Page 1 of 4

Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 6:42 am
by sp6r=underrated
Carmelo Anthony
Anthony Davis
Paul George
James Harden
Kawhi Leonard
Chris Paul

All the guys above moved around at least 1 and had prime level seasons for multiple teams. So which of em get their jersey retired and where.

My picks
Spoiler:
Carmelo: New York. The Knicks have been a joke this century. Despite playing in NY elite players treat the Knicks the way the Clippers used to be treated. He's been the one bright spot this decade. Phil's attack on his rep notwithstanding most Knick fans recognize, despite his flaws, he played at the highest possible level for him and genuinely loved the city/franchise. Denver is a pass. He left on bad terms and a superior player took his number. If Jokic hadn't have come along I think it is possible he'd be forgiven but now no shot.

Davis: Nowhere. Let's get New Orleans out of the way. He left the city in a very ugly fashion. I'm fine with players demanding trades. But the flipside is jersey retirements are really for fans. Do any New Orleans fans have super fond memories of Anthony? I doubt it.

Lakers won a title and he's now been there 3 years. But a title for Laker fans carry less weight than with other franchises. They are the yankees of the NBA: star studded, glamorous and a fair expectation of titles. His other two campaigns have been injury riddled and featured a decline in play even when on the court.

George: Nowhere. Indiana would have retired his number even if the franchise fell into mediocrity had he stayed. But he didn't and his tenure there wasn't quite as great as remembered. His OKC stay was too brief and nothing big happened in LA.

Harden: Houston. Tilman seems petty as hell but I think Rockets will retire his number. They aren't going to have good memories for awhile and he is the 2nd greatest Rocket in history who was the face of the franchise for many years.

Kawhi: Nowhere. San Antonio fans hate him. I think they've gone too far but the animus is real and given the success they had from 1990-2017 they probably feel like they got enough greats from Leonard's days that they can ignore him. Toronto won a title but he was a rental and left ASAP. And he's done nothing important with LA (miss an entire season, miss part of the playoffs in another and stink up a G7 for a guy whose rep depends on the post-season)

Paul: LA. New Orleans clearly has no intention given the manner of his departure but LA will. Yes, those Clippers didn't succeed as much as all hoped in the post-season. But he played like a HOFer most of his year there. More importantly he gave a franchise with a terrible rep much needed credibility. Instead of being bummed out he wasn't allowed to be a laker he embraced being a Clipper. Ballmer is obviously most important but Paul's embrace of Clippers helped the franchise gain a foothold with other superstars after being ignored for decades.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 7:53 am
by SomeBunghole
As we've discussed in another thread, the chances of the Knicks retiring Anthony's jersey are pretty minimal. The only player to have played for the Knicks in the past 4 decades to have had his jersey retired is Ewing.

If Allan Houston, who took the Knicks to the Finals and played in 60 playoff games didn't get his number retired, I don't think they're going to honour Carmelo for that one year he managed to win 2 games in the second round.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:52 am
by antonac
agree with your picks.

I think with the Clippers it's kinda in their interest to gaslight their fans into thinking more fondly of those years than they should. Griffen, Jordan and Paul were sold as a big three that could contend but they never came close, the warriors in particular having their number. Putting Paul in the rafters and pretending the team was a historically great one helps them gloss over the fact that, despite the names that have passed through, they've been a real let down.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 9:37 am
by God Squad
Only name that seems plausible to me are Houston with Harden. The fans still love Harden and IMO it's a matter of when not if.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 9:40 am
by DonaldSanders
Just Harden, but it would take time considering the way he left, but even then it's not a guarantee.

Davis has a chance, but he needs to do a lot more still. The Lakers have pretty high standards, he'd probably have it with most NBA teams but not the Lakers right now.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:05 am
by TheLand13
I would be shocked if Chris Paul and James Harden don't get their jersey's retired with LA and Houston respectively.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:08 am
by FJS
Harden 2nd rocket?

Moses won 2 mvp and went to the finals.

This is more than Harden did.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:15 am
by JN61
I think harden and Paul. Harden is obvious and Clippers are Clippers so there you have it.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:27 am
by TheWhiteMamba
CP3 @ clippers and maybe Kawhi @ raptors (if Raps don't win another title in 10 years, I can see them tributing him honor)

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 10:50 am
by giberish
FJS wrote:Harden 2nd rocket?

Moses won 2 mvp and went to the finals.

This is more than Harden did.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app


It's debatable. The 2018 Rockets were better and came closer to winning a title than the 1981 Rockets. The 1981 team just got an easy path to the finals, while the 2018 team faced the only team with a chance to beat them in the WC finals.

Moses won an extra MVP, but Harden had several more top-5 finishes, and conference finals runs.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:13 am
by Godymas
Houston and Harden is a lock and already confirmed

Hilariously Kawhi has played for two franchises that have never retired any numbers. I do believe that both Toronto and LAC will retire Kawhi's jersey number if he retired. He's done more for their franchises than almost anyone except CP3 and LAC but CP3 probably gets retired in LAC too.

CP3 is getting retired in LA, NO, probably PHX too.

PG is tricky, he might get retired in LAC anyways because as stated earlier...no one has had a retired number in LA and he did take them to their first WCF. Indiana might also bite and retire 13 because he meant so much to their franchise in the early years.

AD is tricky, hard to say. I don't know if 23 gets retired in NO because of AD he didn't win enough and wasn't as important historically to their franchise as CP3. As far as LAL, I don't see them retiring #3 just because getting a jersey retired in LAL is a much bigger deal.

Melo isn't getting retired anywhere. He could've maybe gotten it in Denver but it really doesn't seem likely. NYK won't do it, even though he was big for them. He's not really a big time guy on the Knicks stats board. Didn't take them to the Finals, didn't win an MVP.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:26 am
by monopoman
It sure would be weird seeing Toronto retire Kawhi's jersey when he spent 1 year there. Sure he brought them a championship, but I assume some Raptor fans will resent him for bolting on a team that had the potential to win more.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:37 am
by Uncle Mxy
SomeBunghole wrote:As we've discussed in another thread, the chances of the Knicks retiring Anthony's jersey are pretty minimal. The only player to have played for the Knicks in the past 4 decades to have had his jersey retired is Ewing.

If Allan Houston, who took the Knicks to the Finals and played in 60 playoff games didn't get his number retired, I don't think they're going to honour Carmelo for that one year he managed to win 2 games in the second round.

Allan Houston wasn't an All-Star every season he was a Knick. I'm not sure he was even the consensus best player on the team in any season he was a Knick, let alone his tenure.

Probably the worst case is that it goes down like Rodman. He makes it into the Naismith HOF first. Then, the team where he had his biggest accomplishments says "oh crap, we better claim him as one of our own" and retires his jersey.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:42 am
by ODanseTron
Kawhi deserves it even if it was as a 1-year rental mercenary. Toronto is about as irrelevant in basketball lore as it gets outside of their lone championship delivered by Kawhi being the best player in the league that 2019 season.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 11:46 am
by BallerTalk
sp6r=underrated wrote:
Harden: Houston. Tilman seems petty as hell but I think Rockets will retire his number. They aren't going to have good memories for awhile and he is the 2nd greatest Rocket in history who was the face of the franchise for many years.


DonaldSanders wrote:Just Harden, but it would take time considering the way he left, but even then it's not a guarantee.




Amazing what just a cursory search can reveal:

James Harden will always be a Rocket. Of course, we will retire his jersey. He made my first three years of owning this franchise unforgettable. The success he brought this franchise over eight years and the memories he created for our fan base/community (are) truly remarkable.

- Tilman Fertitta


Read on Twitter


https://www.slamonline.com/nba/rockets-commit-to-retiring-james-hardens-no-13-jersey/
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2934197-james-hardens-no-13-jersey-will-be-retired-by-rockets-says-tilman-fertitta
https://theathletic.com/news/rockets-to-retire-james-hardens-no-13-jersey-owner-says/xDoSFueWC8EH/
https://www.si.com/nba/2021/03/03/houston-rockets-retire-james-harden-jersey-13










Godymas wrote:Houston and Harden is a lock and already confirmed



Thank you good sir.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:54 pm
by Johnny Bball
monopoman wrote:It sure would be weird seeing Toronto retire Kawhi's jersey when he spent 1 year there. Sure he brought them a championship, but I assume some Raptor fans will resent him for bolting on a team that had the potential to win more.


Some fans think so but there's not one chance in anything of it. It was one year.

First retired will be Lowry (a lock) followed by Derozan (probably).

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:21 pm
by lonzo_pelota
Kawhi had been a traveling mercenary and the way he left san antonio its doubtful they'd retire his jersey
and the way he burned rubber being the man from toronto for only a season its doubtful they'd retire it also....
if he plays several more seasons in the clippers jersey he can get his jersey hung there one day, maybe

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:43 pm
by G R E Y
Given that #2's departure was longer and far more acrimonious than that of AD's with the Pels and the latter is described as bad blood, I disagree that our response is too harsh. But it's not like the ownership or PATFO would consider it if only the fans would relent. Jersey numbers in rafters are about more than on-court production. It's also about an embodiment of a team culture on and off the court so there's just no way we'd ever do it.

It's also why AD's jersey will not hang in the Pels arena and why Lowry and DD would and should be considered first.

Given Fertitta's comments it sounds like Harden has the most solid chance from that list.

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:51 pm
by iLLmatic860
Harden rockets easily

Re: Which of these superstars get a jersey retirement if they retired today?

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:51 pm
by cupcakesnake
I think Chris Paul has a chance in Clipperland and New Orleans. He's still the NO's all-time leader in win shares, assists, steals, triple-doubles. He's the best player to suit up for them. Is the sting of his departure still being felt?

Houston Harden should be a no-brainer.

New York fans have a soft spot for Melo. I don't think he accomplished much there, but he still felt iconic enough and I think the fans would enjoy his jersey retirement. 3 playoff appearances and 1 playoff series win in 7 years (and some pretty cold shooting performances in those playoffs) is a pretty crappy resume. But Melo was a cultural figure in New York for a period of time.

Can't see Paul George in Indy. They haven't retired anyone since Reggie Miller, and I see Paul George as having pretty similar overall Pacers impact as Jermaine O'Neal.

Kawhi has no chance anywhere if he retires today, but still has time in Clipperland to do something worth retiring a number over. The Clippers should be the championship favorite this year (if healthy), but we've been through this a couple times now.