No to 23

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is willing to give up his No. 23 and change to No. 6; and he feels that other NBA players should do the same in honor of MIchael Jordan.
Several years ago, Major League Baseball retired the No. 42 of former Brooklyn Dodgers star and pioneer Jackie Robinson in perpetuity for his achievements and impact on the game as the one who broke the league's color line in 1947.
LeBron feels that the National Basketball Association should do the same thing for Jordan. Nobody else should wear No. 23 in a NBA uniform again.
I think LeBron's heart is in the right place and I give him credit for wanting to honor one of the people who helped pave the way for him.
There's no denying MIchael Jordan's impact on the court as perhaps the game's greatest player ever, as well as his impact off the court in the marketing world with his various shoe deals and endorsements. Michael brought casual NBA fans to the television sets during his Hall of Fame career.
However, retiring the No. 23 in perpetuity. Forever. I think that would be a little much.
I know Michael won a lot of championships and sold a lot of shoes, but in terms of impact to the game, there are a lot of other great players that could have an equal and maybe a better case to have his number retired around the league.
Take the No. 6, the number that LeBron wants to wear because that is what he wore during the Olympics. LeBron likes the No. 6 because it belongs to Julius Erving, who is LeBron's second favorite player. However, somebody else wore No. 6.
How about former Boston Celtics star Bill Russell, the greatest winner in the history of team sports. Russell led the Celtics to 11 NBA championships. He was one of the league's first black superstars and the linchpin behind one of the greatest dynasties in pro sports, the Boston Celtics. He was also an Olympic Gold medalist and two-time NCAA champion at San Francisco. Remember the 56-game winning streak.
The No. 13 also comes to mind. It belonged to Wilt Chamberlain, who set many of the league's scoring records, including his 100-point game in 1962 or his 50-point average in a single season. They changed many of the league's rules because Wilt was so dominant.
And then there's No. 32 and No. 33, which belongs to Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, respectively. Together, they helped save the NBA, which was dying on the vine in the 1970's. Their NCAA title tilt in 1979 changed the college game forever and they brought their rivalry to the NBA, which used to telecast its championship games on taped delay before their arrival. Magic and Bird also made it cool to pass the basketball, making the 80's the most glorious era in NBA history.
The teams were great and the games were high-scoring with great passing, wonderful shooting and entertaining basketball, which culminated with those great Laker-Celtic championship series.
Michael's impact on the game was enourmous. Everybody wanted to "Be Like Mike." However, that was a double-edged sword. While Magic and Bird brought team play and passing back en vogue in the NBA, M.J. was such a dominant individual performer that he brought the one-on-one show back into the league.
It was great if you like individual player, but bad if you enjoyed team basketball and high-scoring games. Because of the M.J. influence, the NBA became a game of individuals and was marketed that way. The team took a back seat to the individual.
The clear-out became the top offensive set in basketball. The star would go one on one and the other four guys would sit and watch on the side.
BORING!!
As the league became more individual oriented,it began to suffer as it tricked down to the lower levels. The thinking was if a great player could showcase his individual skills, he could go to college for one year, put up some big numbers, leave college and become a lottery pick and get that phat shoe deal. who cares about the team.
It wasn't MIchael Jordan's intention for the NBA to become a league full of selfish individuals, but that's what happened. In turn, the United States started to lose its mojo worldwide as the Americans started to get whipped by their more team-oriented International opponents on a regular basis.
It took nearly a decade for the league and USA to gets its worldwide respect back as they won the Gold medal in 2008 with a more team oriented approach to the game instead of a team of All-Stars who could not play together.
Fair or unfair, this current period of individualism is not M.J.'s fault, but it is a direct result of his individual brilliance. People took "Be Like Mike" and ran in the wrong direction with it, creating an era of spoiled, individual ball hogs such as Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson.
I'm sorry, but that alone doesn't get your number retired around the league.