It all began on July 4th, 1939, when in honor of the dying LOU GEHRIG; the New York Yankees become the first team in sports history to “retire” a player’s uniform number. That day, Gehrig’s #4 jersey would become a fitting tribute to baseball’s lore, and a new way to celebrate our most beloved athletic heroes began.
Twenty-four years later, the NBA retired it’s first number. On October 16, 1963, the Boston Celtics retired ED MACAULEY’s #22 jersey. Apparently, it was so much fun, they did it again ten days later by retiring the #14 jersey of BOB COUSY. Since then, 156 more NBA players have had their number retired.
Most recently, the Utah Jazz retired JOHN STOCKTON’s #12 jersey. Stockton’s jersey should soon be joined by the jersey of KARL MALONE, and Indiana will likely retire the jersey worn by REGGIE MILLER as soon as next season. So, to fully appreciate the grandeur and the absurdity of this sports tradition, lets take a look at the history of retired jerseys in the NBA.
FAST FACTS:
- 158 jerseys have been retired.
- The #15, #22, and #32 jerseys have been retired the most. Each has been retired 7 times.
- The Boston Celtics have the most retired jerseys: 23.
- The Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, and Toronto Raptors have never retired a jersey.
- The Boston Celtics JIM LOSCUTOFF refused to have his #18 retired. He wanted DAVE COWENS to have the number. The Celtics agreed to hang a banner that read “LOSCY” instead. The #18 was eventually retired for Cowens.
- The New York Knicks have twice retired jersey #15: for EARL MONROE and DICK MCGUIRE.
- The Miami Heat have retired 1 jersey, in honor of MICHAEL JORDAN, even though Jordan never played for the Heat.
- WILT CHAMBERLAIN is the only player to have had his jersey retired by three teams: The Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and Philadelphia 76’ers.
- 9 players have had the jerseys retired by two different teams: PETE MARAVICH (Utah Jazz and New Orleans Hornets), MICHAEL JORDAN (Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat), KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR (Milwaukee Bucks and Lakers), CHARLES BARKLEY (Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns), CLYDE DREXLER (Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets), JULIUS ERVING (New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia 76ers), BOB LANIER (Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons), OSCAR ROBERTSON (Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings/Cincinnati Royals), and NATE THURMOND (Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers)
- Two players have had two different jersey numbers retired by two different teams: JULIUS ERVING - #32 by the Nets and #6 by the 76ers, and OSCAR ROBERTSON - #1 by the Bucks and #14 by the Kings/Cincinnati Royals.
- PETE MARAVICH has his #7 jersey retired by the New Orleans Hornets and the Utah Jazz. He played for the New Orleans Jazz.
- Four players that died during their careers have had their jersey numbers retired by the teams they were playing for at the time of their death: REGGIE LEWIS - Boston Celtics, MALIK SEALY - Minnesota Timberwolves, DRAZEN PETROVIC - New Jersey Nets, and BOBBY PHILLS - Charlotte (now New Orleans) Hornets.
- The highest jersey number to be retired is #613 for former New York Knicks coach RED HOLZMAN.
Here is a complete list of retired jerseys:
ATLANTA HAWKS
#9 Bob Pettit
#21 Dominique Wilkins
#23 Lou Hudson
BOSTON CELTICS
“Loscy” Jim Loscutoff
“Microphone” Johnny Most
#00 Robert Parish
#1 Walter Brown
#2 Red Auerbach
#3 Dennis Johnson
#6 Bill Russell
#10 Jo Jo White
#14 Bob Cousy
#15 Tom Heinsohn
#16 Satch Sanders
#17 John Havlicek
#18 Dave Cowens
#19 Don Nelson
#21 Bill Sharman
#22 Ed Macauley
#23 Frank Ramsey
#24 Sam Jones
#25 K.C. Jones
#31 Cedric Maxwell
#32 Kevin McHale
#33 Larry Bird
#35 Reggie Lewis
CHARLOTTE BOBCATS
None
CHICAGO BULLS
“Banner” Jerry Krause
"COACH" Phil Jackson
#4 Jerry Sloan
#10 Bob Love
#23 Michael Jordan
#33 Scottie Pippen [to be retired in 05-06]
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
#7 Bingo Smith
#22 Larry Nance
#25 Mark Price
#34 Austin Carr
#42 Nate Thurmond
#43 Brad Daugherty
DALLAS MAVERICKS
#15 Brad Davis
#22 Rolando Blackman
DENVER NUGGETS
#2 Alex English
#33 David Thompson
#40 Byron Beck
#44 Dan Issel
#432 Doug Moe
DETROIT PISTONS
#2 Chuck Daly
#4 Joe Dumars
#11 Isiah Thomas
#15 Vinnie Johnson
#16 Bob Lanier
#21 Dave Bing
#40 Bill Laimbeer
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
#13 Wilt Chamberlain
#14 Tom Meschery
#16 Alvin Attles
#24 Rick Barry
#42 Nate Thurmond
Houston Rockets
#22 Clyde Drexler
#23 Calvin Murphy
#24 Moses Malone
#34 Hakeem Olajuwon
#45 Rudy Tomjanovich
INDIANA PACERS
#30 George McGinnis
#34 Mel Daniels
#35 Roger Brown
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
None
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
" Banner" for Minneapolis Lakers: JOHN KUNDLA, GEORGE MIKAN, VERN MIKKELSEN, SLATER, MARTIN, CLYDE LOVELLETTE, and JIM POLLARD
“Microphone” Chick Hearn
#13 Wilt Chamberlain
#22 Elgin Baylor
#25 Gail Goodrich
#32 Magic Johnson
#33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
#42 James Worthy
#44 Jerry West
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
#None
MIAMI HEAT
#23 Michael Jordan (in honor)
MILWAUKEE BUCKS
#1 Oscar Robertson
#2 Junior Bridgeman
#4 Sidney Moncrief
#14 Jon McGlocklin
#16 Bob Lanier
#32 Brian Winters
#33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
#2 Malik Sealy
NEW JERSEY NETS
#3 Drazen Petrovic
#4 Wendell Ladner
#23 John Williamson
#25 Bill Melchionni
#32 Julius Erving
#52 Buck Williams
NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
#6 Sixth Man (dedicated to the fans)
#7 Pete Maravich (with New Orleans Jazz)
#13 Bobby Phills
NEW YORK KNICKS
#10 Walt Frazier
#12 Dick Barnett
#15 Earl Monroe
#15 Dick McGuire
#19 Willis Reed
#22 Dave DeBusschere
#24 Bill Bradley
#33 Patrick Ewing
#613 Red Holzman
ORLANDO MAGIC
None
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
“Microphone” Dave Zinkoff
#6 Julius Erving
#10 Maurice Cheeks
#13 Wilt Chamberlain
#15 Hal Greer
#24 Bobby Jones
#32 Billy Cunningham
#34 Charles Barkley
PHOENIX SUNS
“Coach” Cotton Fitzsimmons
“Trainer” Joe Proski
#5 Dick Van Arsdale
#6 Walter Davis
#7 Kevin Johnson
#9 Dan Majerle
#24 Tom Chambers
#33 Alvin Adams
#34 Charles Barkley
#42 Connie Hawkins
#44 Paul Westphal
* Phoenix no longer formally retires numbers, but inducts the player into their Ring of Honor. All numbers remain available for other players to use.
PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
“Microphone” Bill Schonely
#1 Larry Weinberg
#13 Dave Twardzik
#15 Larry Steele
#20 Maurice Lucas
#22 Clyde Drexler
#32 Bill Walton
#36 Lloyd Neal
#45 Geoff Petrie
#77 Jack Ramsay
SACRAMENTO KINGS
#1 Nate Archibald
#2 Mitch Richmond
#6 Sixth Man (dedicated to the fans)
#11 Bobby Davies
#12 Maurice Stokes
#14 Oscar Robertson
#27 Jack Twyman
#44 Sam Lacey
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
#00 Johnny Moore
#13 James Silas
#32 Sean Elliott
#44 George Gervin
#50 David Robinson
SEATTLE SONICS
“Microphone” Bob Blackburn
#1 Gus Williams
#10 Nate McMillan
#19 Lenny Wilkens
#32 Fred Brown
#43 Jack Sikma
TORONTO RAPTORS
None
UTAH JAZZ
#1 Frank Layden
#7 Pete Maravich
#12 John Stockton
#14 Jeff Hornacek
#35 Darrell Griffith
#53 Mark Eaton
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
#11 Elvin Hayes
#25 Gus Johnson
#41 Wes Unseld
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