Should the Celtics org un-retire some numbers?

[syfy9]

That's like the White House having a wall with portraits of each president ever to have lived on it, and then running out of space.


You don't eliminate a president to make room for more on the wall, no matter how lesser known that president was.

[Tr1boy]

That's like the White House having a wall with portraits of each president ever to have lived on it, and then running out of space.


You don't eliminate a president to make room for more on the wall, no matter how lesser known that president was.

Bad example man.

Again we are talking about dennis johnson vs larry bird.

Why not retire the players name up at the rafters?

Its one way around it

[syfy9]

That's like the White House having a wall with portraits of each president ever to have lived on it, and then running out of space.


You don't eliminate a president to make room for more on the wall, no matter how lesser known that president was.

Bad example man.

Again we are talking about dennis johnson vs larry bird.

Future Tourist Guide: Now, here is the wall of presidents. This wall features all 132 presidents of the United States, except for presidents 3, 15, 27, 41, 58-72, 103, 110, and 118.


Future Tourist: Why aren't they on the wall?


Future Tourist Guide: Why, you ask? Because we felt that they were not important/influential enough to be featured on the wall! duh.

[rjb182]

As a practical matter, I don't think numbers should be unretired (at least until some theoretical future Numbers Crisis)... it's a bad PR move, it's disrespectful, it's unnecessary.

That said, the Celtics really have retired too many. They've gotten a bit crazy over the years. If, theoretically, we could start over and put up only the numbers that really need to be in the rafters without offending anybody, here's how I see it:

We should take down #'s 1 and 2, which are retired for Walter Brown and Red Auerbach, and give some other tribute to those guys. Retiring numbers people never even wore for the team is silly.

We should take down #3. DJ was awesome, but he was at least as good for the Sonics as he was for us, and we only got the last chunk of his career. A hundred fine NBA players have done as much for their teams without being retired.

#6 should stay retired. That's Bill Russell. No-brainer.

#10 is Jo Jo White. That's a tough one, but I'm fine with leaving it retired until the Number Zombies devour it at numberpocalypse.

#14 is Cousy. Leave it retired. Easy.

#15 is Tom Heinsohn. As a player, I'd probably unretire it, but adding in his contributions as a coach and broadcaster, I'd say leave it up there.

I'd probably unretire #16, Satch Sanders, but I'm open to arguments from scholars of that era who disagree.

#17 is Havlicek. It should stay up there.

#18 is Cowens. Leader of two championship teams. Leave it up.

I'd take down #19, Don Nelson. Pretty good coach, pretty good player, not really a star.

I'd keep #21, Bill Sharman. Hard to say with numbers from the 50's, but his look good enough to me.

I'd take down #22, Ed Macauley. Only six seasons with the team, and I've always hated the nickname "Easy Ed." Get back to me when you want to retire Tough-Guy Warrior Ed. (Yes, I'm kidding, but not about the verdict.)

#23, Frank Ramsey, is tough. First sixth man is historically significant. Still, the Celts have retired too many numbers from that era, and #23 is an awfully popular number since Jordan. I'd probably take it down.

#24, Sam Jones, has to stay up. Best guard in team history.

#25, KC Jones, should be taken down. I loved him as a coach, but he was a role player. It's like retiring James Posey's number. No, thanks.

#31 is Cedric Maxwell. Tough. Contributions to two champions matter. But only three years topping 15 PPG, only two years over 8 rebounds. Sorry, I think Cornbread goes.

#32 and #33 are obviously safe. If we can't retire McHale and Bird, the world's gone mad.

#34 hasn't been retired yet, but it obviously should be. Paul Pierce belongs in the rafters. I'm more on the fence about #5, since KG's legacy is in Minnesota as much as Boston. I probably wouldn't retire it here, but I'm fine with it happening. Judgment call.

#35 is Reggie Lewis. He only played big minutes in five seasons, but given the career he likely would have had if not for tragedy, I'll bow to the 'what-if' and say he should remain retired.

#00 is Robert Parish, and should stay retired. No-brainer.

So ideally, these are the numbers I think need to be in the rafters:

6, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 24, 32, 33, 34, 35, 00. With an option on #5.

That's still quite a lot of retired numbers! And I think it would be a better reflection of the vital parts of Celtic history than the overkill we've got now.

But again, I don't favor actually doing this in the real world. You can't un-crack an egg.

[LooseCannon]

That's like the White House having a wall with portraits of each president ever to have lived on it, and then running out of space.


You don't eliminate a president to make room for more on the wall, no matter how lesser known that president was.

Bad example man.

Again we are talking about dennis johnson vs larry bird.

Future Tourist Guide: Now, here is the wall of presidents. This wall features all 132 presidents of the United States, except for presidents 3, 15, 27, 41, 58-72, 103, 110, and 118.


Future Tourist: Why aren't they on the wall?


Future Tourist Guide: Why, you ask? Because we felt that they were not important/influential enough to be featured on the wall! duh.

Thomas Jefferson, James Buchanan, William Taft, and George H.W. Bush?

[dark_lord]

you cant unretire a # imo.  whats done is done.  i think they should be a little tougher on who's number goes up there.  i think max recently having his # retired was a poor choice.

as much as i love kg, i dont think #5 belongs up there.  the only player worthy of it is pierce imo.  i think gorman deserves something as well.

[rondoallaturca]

Why is this thread still alive?

[dark_lord]

Why is this thread still alive?

whynot? 

[coachenew33]

UN-RETIRE DJ's #?!

I understand people are losing their minds a bit after the recent trade but un-retiring D.J. is insane and there is no way as a life long fan growing up watching the 1980's Celtics that I could even accept "well that's just my opinion" type of response.

D.J. was everything that the Celtics embody. There are reasons why the Celtics have a history like no other team, one of them is getting very talented players to sacrifice individual glory for the betterment of the team. You think the Celtics win the 1984 finals without D.J.? He was a special player and special teammate. When Larry Bird calls you the best player he ever played with nothing else really needs to be said...

[SparzWizard]

Absolutely not.

I understand where your coming from. But Dennis Johnson shouldn't have his number retired.  If any non mvp guys should have their numbers retired, would be those part of that ridiculous string of championship wins, like Cousy etc.

And tell me what your fix is, in 300 years when there will be barely any numbers remaining for a player to use??  (extreme example). Celtics will get to this problem faster than any other org probably also (unless you don't care). And i'm against numbers going past 100, bc thats just ridiculous imo

Let's worry about this 300 years from now.

Yeah we should definitely worry more about our roster now than jersey numbers. Wait until the year of 2300, then we'll worry about that!

[SparzWizard]

We are going to use letter combinations in the next 100 years for jerseys!

[Boris Badenov]

If there are 101 numbers to choose from, and we've retired 20.

That means there are still 80 numbers for 15 people to choose from.

I think we're fine. Worrying about something that really won't be an issue for another few hundred years is downright silly.

Side point, but it's traditionally been considered bad form to have any digit greater than "5" in your number, meaning that 55 is the highest "normal" number you will see. So the Celtics are by that traditional standard more constrained than even you suggest.

The reason for the tradition is so that after a foul, the referee can signal the player's number to the sideline using two hands, once. The NCAA actually bans any number with a digit above "5." (If you are a math nerd, this means NCAA jerseys are only in "base 6.")

There have been exceptions but they are rather rare, although many players now exceed "5" in the single digits (like our own Rondo). I think they might be growing more common but I'm not sure.

A little digging tells me that "the NBA needs to approve any number above 55."

PS I am strongly against "un-retiring" numbers. They won't run out before I'm dead, and I'm content to let future generations of Celticbloggers argue about what to do at that point.

[ram]

Dennis Johnson was a Celtic the day he was born; it just took him a little while to get his uniform.

KC Jones was the best perimeter defender of his era and the PG on a number of championship teams. Ask Jerry West if KC's number should be retired. Also, won a ring as a coach.

Questioning Jo Jo White, too?  Really? A 7 time All-Star and 1976 Finals MVP?

Frank Ramsey was All-Star caliber player, great defender and shooter. If he was on a bad team he would have been an All-Star.