Jordan Deserves LeBron's NBA Proposal

CLEVELAND - LeBron James, basketball prodigy extraordinaire, mentioned last week that he will switch from uniform number 23 and start wearing his Olympic number 6 next season and hopes that the NBA will follow his lead and retire the number league wide in honor of Michael Jordan.

Many have scoffed at this idea.

James, 25 next month is in his 7th NBA season. During his still ascending career, he has both met and exceeded the sky high expectations placed on him after a stunning and highly publicized high school career. Jordan, the recently enshrined basketball Hall of Famer has been widely considered the greatest NBA player in history for at least the past 12 to 15 years. With a pro career that was both legendary and globally pioneering, Jordan achieved an ethereal status that no one ever has in the history of the sport. It is because of that fact, not to mention MJ's omnipotence even in today's game and the way he changed the way business is conducted and pro athletes are marketed that makes LeBron's idea a no-brainer.

No one deserves it more than Michael Jordan.

Naturally, the idea has been met with a lot of criticism and resistance. Many in disagreement readily acknowledge Jordan's epic accomplishments but feel that the greats that came before him are either just as deserving or even more so to have their uniform numbers retired. An NBA player has never had his number retired, but Major League Baseball's Jackie Robinson, an exceptional player and the first African-American to play in the majors during the modern era had his retired more than 40 years after he played his last game.

Jordan retired for the third and final time six years ago.

Here's my take: the NBA's logo is a silhouette of former L.A. Lakers great Jerry West. Without question, West was an awesome player and was known as Mr. Clutch for his penchant for late-game heroics during his 14-year career. However, West was far from being the most prominent member of even his own era. He won just one NBA title and no MVP's, while Bill Russell racked up 11 NBA titles and 5 MVP awards. Wilt Chamberlain won 11 rebounding titles, 7 scoring titles and 2 NBA titles. Oscar Robertson was the only man in history to average a triple double over an entire season and cumulatively, he averaged one for his first five seasons combined.

Wow.

The point is, each one of those guys were far better choices to be bestowed the honor of being the logo. If it were a racial issue (those days were very uneven racially), Bob Cousy or George Mikan were more accomplished than West. Hell...Celtics coach Red Auerbach would've been an awesome choice given his mystique and iconic presence in leading Boston to 9 league titles.

For people to say Jordan is undeserving because of others like Chamberlain and Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Dr. J and Larry Bird completely ignores the merits of the guys that should've been the logo over West. Plus, MJ popularized the game to such a degree that folks became fans of him that didn't even like or care about sports...and then they became basketball fans (that's how I became a hoops fan). In today's game, LeBron and Kobe Bryant are the two most obvious spawns of Michael's awesome trailblazing. From his demeanor and fire on the court to his perfectly crafted image off it, these guys were heavily influenced.

Watch an NBA game today and look at Jordan's mannerisms, iconic Jumpman logo and often references to him all over the place. To paraphrase LeBron, when one thinks of fly kicks, game winning shots and high scoring performances, you think of Jordan. Plus, the man was a winner and a money player in the crunch on both sides of the ball.

This is a debate and it shouldn't be. Commissioner Stern; retire Jordan's number 23 all across the NBA. Even if it means setting a team-by-team mandate to do so.

Considering what MJ continues to do for your league, you owe him at least that much.