Retire Nick Anderson's #25?

[glennathan]

here is my question. If he was not good enough to get a jersey retired then why was someone like Earl "The Pearl" Monroe retired? He was a decent player at that and why retire someone like Bill Walton who still pisses me off. Bill Walton does not ever deserve to get a retired Jersey.

Anyways back on topic I say retire the Nick Jersey at the first game of the New Arena. Dont do it here in the Amway Arena even though this is the place Anderson played his career.

[MagicMadness]

here is my question. If he was not good enough to get a jersey retired then why was someone like Earl "The Pearl" Monroe retired? He was a decent player at that and why retire someone like Bill Walton who still pisses me off. Bill Walton does not ever deserve to get a retired Jersey.

Anyways back on topic I say retire the Nick Jersey at the first game of the New Arena. Dont do it here in the Amway Arena even though this is the place Anderson played his career.

One wrong doesn't make a right. Anderson was a big part of our organization, but I still feel like overall he falls just one level short of getting his jersey retired. Honor him in a different way (like the organization already did). Display his name prominently somewhere (I believe there's a big banner with his name and likeness in the arena, along with a couple of other famous Magic men). Dwight Howard is the type of player I'd want to see have his jersey retired one day - assuming he doesn't pull a Shaq/Penny/T-Mac (sigh...).

[sChOlaRlY_Magi]

here is my question. If he was not good enough to get a jersey retired then why was someone like Earl "The Pearl" Monroe retired? He was a decent player at that and why retire someone like Bill Walton who still pisses me off. Bill Walton does not ever deserve to get a retired Jersey.

Anyways back on topic I say retire the Nick Jersey at the first game of the New Arena. Dont do it here in the Amway Arena even though this is the place Anderson played his career.

One wrong doesn't make a right. Anderson was a big part of our organization, but I still feel like overall he falls just one level short of getting his jersey retired. Honor him in a different way (like the organization already did). Display his name prominently somewhere (I believe there's a big banner with his name and likeness in the arena, along with a couple of other famous Magic men). Dwight Howard is the type of player I'd want to see have his jersey retired one day - assuming he doesn't pull a Shaq/Penny/T-Mac (sigh...).

^ But this is exactly why he should be retired IMO. Nick bled Magic colors, he never bolted when given the opportunity. When we did end up trading him we sent him to a place that he wanted to go, but it still broke his heart because he wanted to and should have been allowed to retire as a Magic man...

[EasternMagic]

I dont think you guys understand what he did for the organization... he deserves to have his jersey retired

[MagicMadness]

Trust me, I know what's he done for this organization. If they were to retire his jersey, then great, I'd be happy for him.

But obviously those in charge seem to feel the same way that myself and a couple of others feel. Like I said, in my mind, he's about one level below the requirements needed to have your jersey retired.

[AgEnT50]

That would be me, come and get it.

[macdalejax]

I'm still on the fence here. As many have already pointed out, we shouldn't retire his number just to do it. On the other hand, he was indeed our best, most consistent, player for a decade. I really don't want to cheapen the honor going forward though. Tough decision.

[damo[23]]

Retiring jeresy isnt just about ability its about service aswell. Nick deserves it.

[TheGlyde]

I have done research on this in the past to support my cries for #25 to be retired.

Player jerseys NBA wide are generally retired for one of 3 reasons:

1) Hall of Famer who spent a decent period on your team - these are the majority
2) Player who died tragically - eg Malik Sealy, Drazen Petrovic, Reggie Lewis, Bobby Phills
3) Player who played a key role in franchises best team(s) and spent the majority or all of their career there - eg Nate McMillan (SEA), Jeff Hornacek (UTA), Sean Elliott (SAN), Vinnie Johnson (DET), Brad Davis (DAL).

Nick certainly falls under criteria #3

I always hear the argument that Nick shouldn't be retired, that only criteria 1 should be retired.

I disagree and say Nick should be retired.

A retired number to me is about remembering a players contribution to your team, there are guys who bust their backsides for their whole career for one team, just because they aren't a hall of famer doesn't mean the fans aren't thankful for the effort and service, and doesn't mean their years of service mean less than those of other players.

There are already plenty of accolades that tell a player how good they are, but only one that tells them what they meant to a team and its fans. So to me retiring their number is a way of that team and its teams fans to say: "We are thankful for what you gave to this team" NOT for them to say "This is how good you were".

Retire #25.

[macdalejax]

I have done research on this in the past to support my cries for #25 to be retired.

Player jerseys NBA wide are generally retired for one of 3 reasons:

1) Hall of Famer who spent a decent period on your team - these are the majority
2) Player who died tragically - eg Malik Sealy, Drazen Petrovic, Reggie Lewis, Bobby Phills
3) Player who played a key role in franchises best team(s) and spent the majority or all of their career there - eg Nate McMillan (SEA), Jeff Hornacek (UTA), Sean Elliott (SAN), Vinnie Johnson (DET), Brad Davis (DAL).

Nick certainly falls under criteria #3

I always hear the argument that Nick shouldn't be retired, that only criteria 1 should be retired.

I disagree and say Nick should be retired.

A retired number to me is about remembering a players contribution to your team, there are guys who bust their backsides for their whole career for one team, just because they aren't a hall of famer doesn't mean the fans aren't thankful for the effort and service, and doesn't mean their years of service mean less than those of other players.

There are already plenty of accolades that tell a player how good they are, but only one that tells them what they meant to a team and its fans. So to me retiring their number is a way of that team and its teams fans to say: "We are thankful for what you gave to this team" NOT for them to say "This is how good you were".

Retire #25.

I think I'm sold on this now. Great post.

[Gerhalt11]

You have to have some kind of line, though in terms of superior talent. Service and loyalty are obviously great, but performance on the floor has to be the most important factor

Pat Garrity has been with the Magic almost as long as Nick was, and has undoubtedly had a positive impact on the Central Florida community and has also been a solid contributor on the floor (looking at the whole body of work here, not just the last few seasons). But do we retire his number? Of course not.

And as long as we're using other teams as primers, let's look at Minnesota. They came into the league the same year we did, and their only retired jersey is Malik Sealy (#2) because he was killed in an auto accident. Obviously, that will change when KG retires, but no one is going to argue that.

Relatively speaking, we've been around a pretty short time. I really get the feeling that the urge to raise Nick to the rafters is because we've never retired a jersey before, so we feel left out. That's extremely poor reasoning, in my opinion. It cheapens the team.

EDIT: Some sick soul posted Game 1 of the '95 Finals on YouTube and I, being the sadist that I am, actually watched the end of regulation where Nick missed the infamous four free throws. I'm certainly not going to define a guy's career by one moment, but after having watched that, I find it even more difficult to sign off on #25 being retired.

[ProfX]

Nick was our starting two guard (I believe) the entire time he was with the Magic and was IMO the glue guy on perhaps the best assembled Magic team ever. He went up against Jordon, Miller, Houston, + other all stars and was a great low post defender as well as scorer from the post. I don't put him in the level of above, but he definately held his own each and every night. I think thats why he was my favorite player. He might have been outclassed talent wise, but he worked his tail off every night against them to make up for it. He might have missed those free throws, but he is also the guy that stole the ball from Jordon to put us in the position to miss those crucial free throws.

[TheGlyde]

Nick should have just not busted his ass to get the offensive rebound, the ball bounces a different way, Magic still lose, and people probably never mention it...

I didn't say service was the only criteria, I said that the player needed to have alot of talent, be very long serving, and be part of the franshises best ever team. Garrity only had one third of that (service)... lets compare numbers

Anderson played 179 more games for us than Garrity
Anderson played more than double the minutes for us than Garrity
Anderson hit 276 more 3 pointers than a guy known for the 3 ball
Anderson grabbed nearly three times as many rebounds as a guy taller than him
Anderson threw over four times as many assists
Anderson grabbed over four times as many steals
Anderson swatted over three times as many shots
Anderson scored nearly triple the points

Anderson was part of our NBA finals team, a key part in us getting to the finals. Garrity never got out of the first round.

Garrity is not in the same league for service wise (Games/Minutes) and he certainly is not there numbers wise.

Nick Anderson at his peak was borderline all-star reserve talent, the thing with All star reserves is, the coaches don't vote in guys on teams that struggle, and until Shaq and Penny came along, The Magic struggled.

Take a look at Jeff Hornacek's All Star season:
20.1ppg, 5.0rpg, 5.1apg, 2.0spg, far and away the best statistical season of his career, on a 53 win Phoenix team.

Take a look at Hedo's borderline All-Star season:
19.5ppg, 5.7rpg, 5.0apg, 0.9spg, alongside Dwight Howard

Nick's two best seasons:
19.9ppg, 6.4rpg, 2.7apg, 1.6spg, on a 21win, talentess team
19.9ppg, 6.0rpg, 3.4apg, 1.6spg, alongside Shaquille O'Neal

All the numbers are pretty comparable, but Nick was largely ignored as they were on 21 and 41 win teams.

Hornacek had Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle and Tom Chambers with him contributing to the 53 wins, all All-stars at one point. Nick had no-one in 91-92 and a rookie Shaq in 92-93 and thats it.

Minnesota (KG excluded), Miami and Charlotte don't have anyone like Nick Anderson...

Nick leads the franchise in:
Games Played
Games Started
Minutes Played
Field Goal Makes
Field Goal Attempts
3 Point Attempts
Steals
Points

He is #2 in 3 point makes and defensive rebounds
He is #3 in free throw makes, attempts and total rebounds.

Minnesota, Miami and Charlotte don't have anyone dominate their team history like that, I doubt any team in the league does.

Still not enough? Nick Anderson is one of only 22 guys in league history to amass over 10,000 points, 1,000 steals, and 1,000 3 point makes, and he did almost all of that wearing Magic Blue and Black.

He is one of only nine among those 22 players to also amass 4000 career rebounds, and 19 of the 22 who have hit those marks, played more games than Nick.

Retire #25.

[damo[23]]

Not to mention that Nick came back to work for us; the man bleeds Orlando he really does.

Glyde has managed to put into words what really for me was a near intangible feeling of why we need Nicks jeresy in the rafters.

[sChOlaRlY_Magi]

+40 on waht Glyde said! Well put sir...

As far as the compairing Nick to Pat...

For shame.. Even if you were just trying to make a point.

[sChOlaRlY_Magi]

I mean DAMNNNNNNN Glyde! PWNING IT!
Retire 25!