spartacat_12 Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 22 hours ago, skip88 said: Agree, even the Gretzky retirement is ridiculess, retire it for the teams he played for, or even better, just one of them, not the whole league. He has records yes, but they can be broken. 99 in Edmonton and LA, that must be enough. It's different because 99 is probably more synonymous with Gretzky than any number is with any other athlete. Besides Wayne, only a handful of players ever wore the number, and none of them were notable. Even if the league hadn't had retired the number officially, I doubt we'd have anyone in the league wearing it (just look at the controversy when Josh Ho-Sang wanted to wear 66 for the Islanders). Hundreds of other NBA players have worn 24, including several hall of famers, so it's not like everyone who sees a basketball player wearing it immediately thinks of Kobe. I have no issue with teams taking the number out of circulation, but I wouldn't want to see a banner up anywhere except Staples Center. It's a bit embarrassing that Miami has a Michael Jordan banner hanging from their rafters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC985 Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 What would retiring Kobe’s number across the league accomplish? What is the lesson or message behind it? I can’t think of one. He was a great player for the Lakers and they retired his numbers. He will go into the Hall or Fame; a place dedicated to the memory and celebration of great players. As I’ve already stated, retiring numbers would be an overreaction in my opinion. I can’t say that retiring Wayne Gretzky’s 99 makes a lot of sense to me. How many teams have a banner up in his honor, and what are we supposed to take away from that? Jackie Robinson’s 42 has a lesson behind it, but it feels like MLB is slowly chipping away at that every year when they trot out jerseys and hats in his memory to make a buck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phutmasterflex Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I can't remember where I read this, but it was along the lines of this: If this honor wasn't good enough to do while he was alive, what does him being dead change for it? Retiring his number league-wide makes no sense. Why does he get this honor when there are players who were better than him? Jordan never got this kind of treatment and he's the best player in league history. Does MJ need to die tragically for it? I think the best situation is what already has been stated. Teams don't circulate 24 but don't announce publicly that they're retiring it. Teams can still circulate 24 if they want. It's their choice. The Lakers retired Kobe's number and that's the team that matters for this. Go A's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digby Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 And I think there's something to be said if players feel like that's their way of honoring him as a mentor or friend, they should have free reign to wear 8/24. It's presumably the players who would have the strongest feelings, after all. I admit my perspective is clouded by being a Celtics fan (we're almost out of numbers) and a soccer fan (I like the tradition of passing shirt numbers down). Fan Style ShirtsShowcasing fan-made sports apparel by artists and designers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBTV Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 1/26/2020 at 9:29 PM, itsmb8 said: Dallas has officially retired the number 24. Id like to see the other 28 teams follow suit. It's absurd. On 1/27/2020 at 9:05 AM, jmac11281 said: My personal thought is that even the "best ever in a sport" is still completely subjective. Therefore, numbers should only be subject to league-wide retirement if the player did something of historical significance (i.e. - Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier). It would have made more sense had they retired Jackie Robinson's number way back when - not decades after the fact, after hundreds of other players have worn it. Also, Robinson isn't (or wasn't) synonymous with his number, the way players like Gretzky or Jordan were. I'm for any tribute to Robinson and Doby that you can think of, but league-wide number retirement wasn't necessary. On 1/27/2020 at 3:12 PM, Waffles said: One thing I'd like to see that I think accommodates the desire to honor Kobe without rushing into a wholesale, permanent change would be a one-time waiver from the NBA's rules to allow players to change to 8 or 24 for the remainder of the season. What's weird is that some players are switching to those, and some are switching away from them. Joel Embiid is wearing 24 (even though it's already retired), but Zahiare Smith (sp) is changing permanently from 8 to 5 (though he's wearing 7 tonight for some reason.) The thing with this is it's a "look at me" thing, and how do they decide exactly who gets to wear 24 or 8? Since Embiid is wearing 24, does that mean he loved Kobe more than Ben Simmons? We get it - you all looked up to him. You don't need to wear his number to tell everyone. On 1/27/2020 at 5:06 PM, skip88 said: Agree, even the Gretzky retirement is ridiculess, retire it for the teams he played for, or even better, just one of them, not the whole league. He has records yes, but they can be broken. 99 in Edmonton and LA, that must be enough. Agreed, but in this case, nobody would ever have worn 99 again anyway. It was him, and he was it. Anyone who wore 99 for any team would evoke Gretzky, and there's a lot of people of a certain age that only know (or knew) one NHL player, and it was 99. Necessary? No. But in this one case, harmless. On 1/27/2020 at 8:01 PM, dont care said: Because Roy halladay did mean a lot to baseball, died in a similar fashion only a few years after he retired like Kobe, Roy Halladay was recklessly flying a plane while under the influence of prescription sleeping pills (Ambien), morphine, amphetamines, and Prozac. It's not a similar fashion. They were also not nearly on the same level as far as cultural icons go. Show anyone a head shot of Halladay, and how many out of 10 would know who it was? "The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djam2410 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 24 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said: What's weird is that some players are switching to those, and some are switching away from them. Joel Embiid is wearing 24 (even though it's already retired), but Zahiare Smith (sp) is changing permanently from 8 to 5 (though he's wearing 7 tonight for some reason.) The thing with this is it's a "look at me" thing, and how do they decide exactly who gets to wear 24 or 8? Since Embiid is wearing 24, does that mean he loved Kobe more than Ben Simmons? We get it - you all looked up to him. You don't need to wear his number to tell everyone. I dont see it that way at all, a lot of these players are young and grew up idolizing Kobe and not knowing of many of the greats who came before him. Some guys want to memorialize him in their own way, whether it's wearing the jersey for one night or not wearing it for the foreseeable future. These guys have MUCH deeper of a connection to him, especially hearing their many stories so I dont think any of us are in a position to understand any of the decisions they make and I wont question guys because their could be a story behind a lot of what they choose to do. Cal Bears | Miami Dolphins | Cleveland Cavaliers |@dcjames5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBTV Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 13 minutes ago, djam2410 said: I dont see it that way at all, a lot of these players are young and grew up idolizing Kobe and not knowing of many of the greats who came before him. Some guys want to memorialize him in their own way, whether it's wearing the jersey for one night or not wearing it for the foreseeable future. These guys have MUCH deeper of a connection to him, especially hearing their many stories so I dont think any of us are in a position to understand any of the decisions they make and I wont question guys because their could be a story behind a lot of what they choose to do. So what if the 10th guy on the bench credits Kobe with inspiring him to give up a life of crime and drugs and learning how to play basketball, and is totally heartbroken and wants to honor him, but then the 9th guy on the bench, who loved playing as Kobe in video games is like "sorry bro, I'm wearing 24"? Then Joel Embiid says (in his cookiemonster accent) "I am bigger than you both I will wear it"? It's a tribute that they're not all able to make. "The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djam2410 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 6 minutes ago, BringBackTheVet said: So what if the 10th guy on the bench credits Kobe with inspiring him to give up a life of crime and drugs and learning how to play basketball, and is totally heartbroken and wants to honor him, but then the 9th guy on the bench, who loved playing as Kobe in video games is like "sorry bro, I'm wearing 24"? Then Joel Embiid says (in his cookiemonster accent) "I am bigger than you both I will wear it"? It's a tribute that they're not all able to make. Larry Nance, arguably the 10th man on the Cavs, is wearing #24 tonight (his old number before switching to his father's retired #22) because he played with Kobe and had an impact on his basketball career growing up. That's something the players will work out amongst themselves and frankly something we don't even need to worry about. There are so many different ways to memorialize him and I'm not going to criticize a person for how they want to do it. Again, we have no connection to him like the players who played or went against him have so I would leave that to them to do how they please. You surely don't have to like it either Cal Bears | Miami Dolphins | Cleveland Cavaliers |@dcjames5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSU151 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 I think Nance was the first to hug Kobe after he scored 60 in the finale. Smart is believing half of what you hear. Genius is knowing which half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadSeed84 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 I think the Lakers should have their court the way it was for Kobe's last game the rest of the season, with 24 on one side and 8 on the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satomiblood Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 I'm good with the players taking it upon themselves to informally "retire" 8 and 24. However, I don't think it should be a league wide thing where teams officially retire them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSU151 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 1 hour ago, EddieJ1984 said: I think the Lakers should have their court the way it was for Kobe's last game the rest of the season, with 24 on one side and 8 on the other. Hopefully they could get the stains of the wood to match this time. Smart is believing half of what you hear. Genius is knowing which half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDGP Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Why not just go all-in and rename it National Bryant Association? This whole thing is really beginning to reek of people wanting to get their coveted internet points. Don’t get me wrong, there are some real, excellent heartfelt tributes, and some good ideas (Lakers court idea, All-Star trophy renaming) that legitimately make a lot of sense. But come on, retiring his number across the league? That’s ridiculous (maaaaaaaaybe Bill Russell deserves, but even then). I’ve also noticed how Mamba Mentality suddenly means being a paragon of the community when literally the same people were criticizing the hell out of him and “mamba mentality” for publicly shaming one of his players for missing a game to go to a dance recital like two months ago. I’m not saying that people shouldn't be sad. I’m not saying Kobe wasn’t insanely impactful. But using tragedy to show just how great and caring you are on internet to a bunch of people that you don’t know is shameful (that’s a plural “you,” and I’m not saying everyone is doing it). I've got a dribbble, check it out if you like my stuff; alternatively, if you hate my stuff, send it to your enemies to punish their insolence! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Survival79 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 "If things have gone wrong, I'm talking to myself, and you've got a wet towel wrapped around your head." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djam2410 Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 55 minutes ago, MDGP said: This whole thing is really beginning to reek of people wanting to get their coveted internet points. the irony of posting this on a uniform forum where we receive internet points for our opinions on uniforms/logos, etc. Cal Bears | Miami Dolphins | Cleveland Cavaliers |@dcjames5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDGP Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 1 hour ago, djam2410 said: the irony of posting this on a uniform forum where we receive internet points for our opinions on uniforms/logos, etc. Sure, but I don't necessarily think there's a problem with getting internet points as long as you're being genuine and rational in the process. Side note, I sure hope people here aren't basing their uniform opinions on the number of likes they'll get. I've got a dribbble, check it out if you like my stuff; alternatively, if you hate my stuff, send it to your enemies to punish their insolence! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digby Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Kemba Walker sounds like he may hold onto his number. https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/celtics/2020/01/29/observations-from-successful-celtics-road-trip/pqTFKKMEdiKdE8dQlOfcYJ/story.html Quote “I definitely have tons of respect for Kobe,” Walker said. “Everybody mourns a bit different. For me, I’m thinking I’d love to honor him by wearing that number. Kobe played hard each and every night and I would like to honor him by doing the same. I am definitely thinking about it. But we’ll see.” Fan Style ShirtsShowcasing fan-made sports apparel by artists and designers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froob Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 Man seeing old Kobe highlights, the Lakers have gotta fix that jersey and revert it to the old style without the dumb black trim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DG_ThenNowForever Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 1 minute ago, Froob said: Man seeing old Kobe highlights, the Lakers have gotta fix that jersey and revert it to the old style without the dumb black trim Yes, or they could have just as easily done this: It's what people wanted and Nike decided to dick around and now LAL is stuck with a jersey they don't even wear much anymore. 1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said: and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Froob Posted January 30, 2020 Share Posted January 30, 2020 13 minutes ago, DG_Now said: Yes, or they could have just as easily done this: It's what people wanted and Nike decided to dick around and now LAL is stuck with a jersey they don't even wear much anymore. That’s awesome. I was thinking more yellow numbers but that’s great too. Not a big fan of the white numbers on the Kobe ones but still a huge improvement over the current. I wish the Lakers would return to tradition with their purple and yellow jerseys and primarily wear purple on the road again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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