LeBron to give up no 23 out of respect for MJ

[WVRed]

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index....g_to_give.html

Miami -- Basking in the glow of a victory over the Heat, Cavs superstar LeBron James looked over at his idol sitting in the stands at AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday night and made a command decision.

Out of respect to Michael Jordan, who sat courtside and watched James score 34 points, James said he is planning on switching his number after this season from No. 23 to No. 6. It just sort of came out, but it was obvious he's been thinking about it for a while.
Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat, 111-104The Miami Heat retired Michael Jordan's No. 23 in 2003. It's also retired in Chicago. Hmmm...

And James wants to lead a movement to get every player who wears No. 23 in the league to give it up as a tribute to Jordan.

"I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon," James said. "There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn't Michael Jordan first.

"He can't get the logo, and if he can't, something has to be done. I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. I'm starting a petition, and I've got to get everyone in the NBA to sign it. Now, if I'm not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it."

James said his mind was almost made up, but the more he talked, the more he sounded like he was about to make an impromptu marketing shock wave.

"If you see 23, you think about Michael Jordan," James said. "You see game-winning shots, you think about Michael Jordan; you see guys fly through the air, you think about Michael Jordan; you see fly kicks, you think about Michael Jordan. He did so much, it has to be recognized, and not just by putting him in the Hall of Fame."

Going to No. 6 would be a natural, and James would have to inform the league by March to change jerseys by next year. Jordan himself changed jerseys briefly during his career, to No. 45, and several years ago, Kobe Bryant went from No. 8 to No. 24, so it has been done.

No. 6 is James' Olympic number, and he has worn it in Cavs practices over the past two years. But it has other special qualities to him.

"My second-favorite player was Julius Erving, and he wore No. 6," James said. "I wore 32 in high school because Dr. J wore it at first. My first child was born on Oct. 6, it's my Olympic number, my second child was born in June."

Interesting.

[traderumor]

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index....g_to_give.html



Interesting.

Wait, he can't do "6" because of all that Dr. J. did for the game. Make it "13." Oh wait, that's Wilt's number. Ok, "33." Ah, Larry Bird, Kareem. I got it, "32." Oops, nope that's Magic. I got it "99," surely there's no one with that number that's done so much for the game. Oh, wait, George Mikan, the most well known early "big man." Ok, I give up.

[yab1112]

Maybe I'm being overly cynical but I'm guessing Lebron's motives aren't so altruistic. He wants his own legacy and once 23 is retired league-wide for Jordan, it can't be retired again for him...

[Joseph]

Jer$ey $ales.

[Hoosier Red]

Oddly enough none of this had occurred to Lebron when he entered the league. Guess he had to let the stench of Jordan(the Wizard years) diminish for a few years before he talked about honoring the legacy.

[Roy Tucker]

Jer$ey $ales.

ding-ding-ding, we have a winner.

[cumberlandreds]

Jer$ey $ales.

Exactly. Nothing but a marketing ploy to sell umpteen million Lebron jerseys with the number 6.

[dabvu2498]

Exactly. Nothing but a marketing ploy to sell umpteen million Lebron jerseys with the number 6.

But they're already going to sell a bunch of extra jerseys when he goes to the Knicks.

[bucksfan2]

Kobe did the same thing, just didn't give a b.s. reason.

[MasonBuzz3]

the jersey sales thing is not accurate. Lebron doesn't need any help selling jerseys...i.e. the Cavs having a dozen different jerseys each season. He has been wearing #6 in practice and talking about changing to #6 for years now, just ESPN never thought it was news. Its a non-story.

[texasdave]

Who cares?

[Joseph]

Who cares?

Probably the best question asked thus far.

[Yachtzee]

I find it hard to believe that Lebron, Kobe, or Dwayne Wade wouldn't be NBA stars if there were no Michael Jordan. It's not like he gave birth to them. He didn't even break the color barrier in the NBA, so I think those players would be in the NBA regardless. Jordan has a big enough ego without it being stroked by retiring his number across the league. MLB retired Jackie Robinson's number across the league because he did something truly special that goes beyond just playing ball. Jordan was an incredible ballplayer and made huge money in endorsements, but by and large, he's had very little social impact when compared to Robinson. Pushing to retire his number across the league cheapens the retirement of Robinson's number and creates a slippery slope of professional sports retiring numbers for others who were great on the field, court, or ice. What's next? Should the NHL retire Gretzky's number across the league? Should MLB revisit the idea and retire Babe Ruth's number?

[DTCromer]

I don't get the "I'm giving up my number outta respect" card.

I would WEAR numbers out of respect. This whole thing is just stupid. The more I hear out of Lebron, the more I dislike the guy. He hasn't said or done anything major, but it's just simple little things that keep annoying me about him.

[MasonBuzz3]

The more I hear out of Lebron, the more I dislike the guy. He hasn't said or done anything major, but it's just simple little things that keep annoying me about him.

I'm chalking this up to ESPN disecting very little thing that Lebron says. MJ never had to deal with this or the online news/blogs, he would be in the same boat at 24.