2016 NBA Finals - Golden State vs Cleveland: Game 7

[Sports Enthusiast]

I see retiring jerseys on a team level as a bit different. There's a big difference between wearing 23 on a different team because you loved MJ and wearing 23 on Chicago. 23 is MJ's number, but 23 on Chicago is his jersey.

That may sound like a bit of nonsense but it makes sense in my head

Even if LeBron does make it to six, he's still not MJ. MJ stature goes far beyond just the six rings. LeBron will never reach the iconic status or have the aura attached to his name that MJ has I don't believe. Jordan is a culutral phenomenon and still is to this day.

I just think that if you weren't going to retire 23 league wide once MJ was done then you can't do it now because another amazing guy came along and used the same number and I think a lot of people would feel agrieved about it for a number of reasons.

I personally never got the Jordan cultural phenomenon to be honest. He was a really good player I'm not denying that but I don't get the whole special thing our generation had regarding him either. Like people thought Space Jam was great...the movie was honestly a bad joke. Granted I see that now versus when I was 8 and it came out.

 

[Morozov]

I don't think many people think Space Jam is a great movie now, but of course at the time particularly as a kid the value was much different. Critically it is slammed.

I remember one year playing Basketball as a kid where I swear every game we played was against the Tune Squad or the Monstars

You may not have got it but it he's one of the biggest icons in the history of world sport and of course had a massive marketing hype machine behind him.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I dont even think Gretzkys jersey should be retired league wide. Save that honor for the Jackie Robinsons of the world.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

I don't think many people think Space Jam is a great movie now, but of course at the time particularly as a kid the value was much different. Critically it is slammed.

I remember one year playing Basketball as a kid where I swear every game we played was against the Tune Squad or the Monstars

You may not have got it but it he's one of the biggest icons in the history of world sport and of course had a massive marketing hype machine behind him.

See but I would argue Shaq was more marketable. The only difference is his position wasn't designed to be the hero. Shaq was the guy who rapped and stuff.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

I dont even think Gretzkys jersey should be retired league wide. Save that honor for the Jackie Robinsons of the world.

I think it was only done because 99 is a bizarre number outside of maybe being an NFL defensive linemen. That's just a guess I have.

 

[Morozov]

See but I would argue Shaq was more marketable. The only difference is his position wasn't designed to be the hero. Shaq was the guy who rapped and stuff.

And hundreds of millions of dollars would argue that you are wrong. Jordan still makes more in endorsements today than any athlete makes. He was the highest earning "athlete" in sports after Pac and Mayweather, they won't fight again this year so Jordan will likely go back to being the highest earning athlete on the planet.

You could easily argue that even today Jordan is the most marketable person, not just athlete, in North America period.

There's really no leg to stand on with some they got it wrong going with Jordan argument lol.

"Rapped and stuff" cool, though there isn't really a shortage of guys in the NBA who are horrible rappers.

There's other little differences, like Jordan being the best player of all time. The Jordan name is synonymous with greatness, with being the best, with winning. Shaq's name has been synonymous with a wide number of things.

 

[darko]

I don't think many people think Space Jam is a great movie now, but of course at the time particularly as a kid the value was much different. Critically it is slammed.

I remember one year playing Basketball as a kid where I swear every game we played was against the Tune Squad or the Monstars

You may not have got it but it he's one of the biggest icons in the history of world sport and of course had a massive marketing hype machine behind him.

I shot jump shots for the next 4 hours after watching that movie.

 

[darko]

See but I would argue Shaq was more marketable. The only difference is his position wasn't designed to be the hero. Shaq was the guy who rapped and stuff.

Shaq was very marketable but he is not even in the same stratosphere as Michael.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

I think it was only done because 99 is a bizarre number outside of maybe being an NFL defensive linemen. That's just a guess I have.

Ah, you really don't know much about hockey.