The Spurs' announcement of the retirement of Sean Elliott's jersey last week got me wondering, how many NBA players have had their numbers retired.  Well, there are quite a few and a lot of different types of players have had their numbers sent to the rafters.  The disparate types of players got me wondering what criteria is used in this process.  Given the varied results of jersey retirement, there is no express criteria and unlike the Hall of Fame ballot, there aren't so many numbers or accomplishments to point out.  Indeed, a lot of the time a good player has his number retired because he has earned some goodwill or emotional capital with the local fans.  This capital is earned a number of different ways.  In reviewing the retired numbers, we've come across some broad categories for earning retirement which we'll breakdown for you:

 

A) A-List Star: These are the clear cut Hall of Famers, the guys that an outsider to the franchise would just assume are retired:

 

Bob Pettit (Atl)

Dominque Wilkins (Atl)

Lou Hudson (Atl)

Bill Russell (Bos)

Bob Cousy (Bos)

John Havlicek (Bos)

Dave Cowens (Bos)

Kevin McHale (Bos)

Larry Bird (Bos)

Michael Jordan (Chi)

Bill Russell (Bos)

Bob Cousy (Bos)

Isaiah Thomas (Det)

Wilt Chamberlain (GS), (PHI), (LAL)

Rick Barry (GS)

Elgin Baylor (LAL)

Magic Johnson (LAL)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (MIL), (LAL)

Jerry West (LAL)

Oscar Robertson (SAC), (MIL)

Julius Erving (NJ), (PHI)

Walt Frazier (NY)

Willis Reed (NY)

Patrick Ewing (NY)

Charles Barkley (PHI), (PHO)

Hakeem Olajuwon (HOU)

Clyde Drexler (POR), (HOU)

Moses Malone (HOU)

Bill Walton (POR)

George Gervin (SA)

David Robinson (SA)

John Stockton (UTA)

Elvin Hayes (WAS)

Wes Unseld (WAS)

 

B) The Very Goods:    These are the players who were very good and even All Stars and Hall of Famers but weren't quite legendary like the guys above.  If you hang around franchise as a leading scorer for six to eight years you should fit into this category.  Before giving this list I should point out that the categories can be a little blurry.  Players like Gervin and Walton arguably fall into this category and guys listed below (for example Alex English) might merit "A List" treatment.  All we can do is try to list them as best we can.  So with that caveat, here are the "very goods":

 

Lou Hudson (ATL)

Robert Parish (BOS)

Jo Jo White (BOS)

Tom Heinsohn (BOS)

Bill Sharman (BOS)

Sam Jones (BOS)

Bob Love (CHI)

Larry Nance (CLE)

Mark Price (CLE)

Brad Daugherty (CLE)

Austin Carr (CLE)

Alex English (DEN)

David Thompson (DEN)

Dan Issel (DNE)

Rolando Blackman (DAL)

Joe Dumars (DET)

Bob Lanier (DET)

Dave Bing (DET)

Bill Laimbeer (DET)

Nate Thurmond (GS)

Rudy Tomjanovich (HOU)

Calvin Murphy (HOU)

George McGinnis (IND)

Mel Daniels (IND)

Gail Goodrich (LAL)

James Worthy (LAL)

Sidney Moncrief (MIL)

Buck Williams (NJ)

Earl Monroe (NY)

Dave DeBusschere (NY)

Maurice Cheeks (PHI)

Hal Greer (PHI)

Billy Cunningham (PHI)

Walter Davis (PHO)

Kevin Johnson (PHO)

Paul Westphal (PHO)

Alvan Adams (PHO)

Tiny Archibald (SAC)

Mitch Richmond (SAC)

Bob Davies (SAC)

Jack Twyman (SAC)

Jack Sikma (SEA)

Pete Maravich (UTA)

Jeff Hornacek (UTA)

Gus Johnson (WAS)

 

Like the A-List guys, no objective fan would be surprised to know these numbers are retired.  Now we reach a layer lower and then we see some more surprises.

 

C) Longtimers/Mainstays:    These are the retired numbers that have good feelings because they were in town a longtime and/or they were pretty good.  The names start to get a little more surprising to outsiders and require some explanation (sometimes a lot of explanation).  I don't mean to denigrate all these guys because there are some very good players here but there some players mixed in who really not one you'd associate with particularly memorable to their franchises.  Also included in the group are guys who were very good, like Connie Hawkins, but really weren't good for that long on the team that retired their jerseys.  Here's the group:

 

Ed Macauley (BOS)

Jerry Sloan (CHI)

Bingo Smith (CLE)

Byron Beck (DEN)

Brad Davis (DAL)

Tom Meschery (GS)

Al Attles (GS)

Roger Brown (IND)

Junior Bridgeman (MIL)

Jon McGloklin (MIL)

Brian Winters (MIL)

John Williamson (NJ)

Bill Melchionni (NJ)

Dick Barnett (NY)

Dick McGuire (NY)

Dick Van Arsdale (PHO)

Dan Majerle (PHO)

Tom Chambers (PHO)

Connie Hawkins (PHO)

Lloyd Neal (POR)

Geoff Petrie (POR)

Mark Eaton (UTA)

Darrell Griffith (UTA)

Lenny Wilkens (SEA)

Fred Brown (SEA)

Nate McMillian (SEA)

Gus Williams (SEA)

James Silas (SA)

Sean Elliott (SA)

Johnny Moore (SA)

Sam Lacey (SAC)

 

This is obviously a mixed bag.  Guys like Fred Brown and Gus Williams were pretty good but we also seem some real surprises here like Bingo Smith and Byron Beck.  For most of these guys, the decision to retire the numbers is based more on the emotional good feeling of these guys living in the city and working for the franchise than on pure talent and ability.  There is nothing wrong with this but when the focus is on intangibles the decision to retire the number becomes harder for outsiders to understand.

 

D) Championship Role Players:    This group of retired jerseys is related to the longtimers/mainstays.  The slight difference is that these guys get bonus points (sometimes too many points) for wearing the franchise jersey while some star won the title for them.  Obviously, these guys are pretty good too but the being a member a championship squad is a quality that is often either overvalued by fans or a magic pixie dust that will always give the local warm and fuzzies when they see you.  I don't mean to be dismissive of the concept but it clearly gave some of these guys an unfair boost (Jim Loscutoff, Don Nelson).  Others, (like Vinnie Johnson on Dennis Johnson) contributed a good deal as role players and probably deserve their place in the rafters.  Check out the "winners circle":

 

Dennis Johnson (BOS)

Satch Sanders (BOS)

Jim Loscutoff (BOS)

Don Nelson (BOS)

Frank Ramsey (BOS)

K.C. Jones (BOS)

Cedric Maxwell (BOS)

Vinnie Johnson (DET)

Bill Bradley (NY)

Bobby Jones (PHI)

Maurice Lucas (POR)

Larry Steele (POR)

Dave Twardzik (POR)

 

Not surprisingly, this list is mostly Celts.  Looks like our good friends in Boston overdid it a tad.  Indeed, I've already heard that the Celts are set for David Thridkill and Sam Vincent nights.  In the Celts' defense, I would love it if the Mets' retired Mookie Wilson's number.  The trick here is to determine how much of factor the player was in the title runs.  Key role players who also played in town a while are justifiable (Bill Bradley) while players whose main assets were being good luck charms are less so. 

 

E) Tragedy:    Unfortunately, a jersey honor night isn't always for a celebration of achievements.  Sometimes, it's a way to try and alleviate misfortune.  There are six cases of players being killed/incapacitated in mid-career.  A few of these guys had a chance to earn a legit retirement ceremony (Drazen Petrovic, Maurice Stokes).  But most of them were nice guys and decent players:

 

Reggie Lewis (BOS)

Malik Sealy (MIN)

Drazen Petrovic (NJ)

Wendell Ladner (NJ)

Bobby Phills (NO)

Maurice Stokes (SAC)

 

F)  Miscellaneous:    Two guys just don't quite fit neatly into any of  the above categories.  Nate Thurmond and Bob Lanier had there numbers retired by Cleveland and Milwaukee respectively.  In both cases, the big centers played for the franchise for only a few years near the end of their respective careers.  It appears that the retirement was earned partially because their arrival coincided with some nice franchise peaks. 

 

Indeed, the Cavs were a struggling expansion team before Thurmond came to town in 1975-76.  Though Thurmond averaged only about 5 ppg and 6.5 rpg for the Cavs they finally became a playoff factor.  Thurmond also happened to have gone to college in Ohio and was by all accounts a classy guy.  The combination of these factors got Thurmond's number on the ceiling  in Cleveland.  Similarly, Lanier came to Milwaukee in 1980-81 the first time they were a playoff factor since trading Kareem Abdul-Jabbar several years earlier.  Lanier only was a 14 ppg and 7 rpg but the Bucks had a nice four-year run with him in the pivot.  The run continued after Lanier retired but clearly he was a nice piece for the early 1980s Bucks and thus he got some credit.

 

Some Odds and Ends:   

 

-Did you know that the Clippers, Heat, Magic, Raptors, and Grizz have no retired numbers?  All but the Clipps are expansion teams and are not very old franchises.  The Clipps are a story unto themselves.

 

-A couple of teams seem a bit more generous in retiring numbers: Cleveland, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Portland,  and Phoenix are the teams that have more retired numbers from the longevity category players than other franchises. 

 

The Most Glaring Omissions:    There are several retired players who I was surprised were not yet honored by their franchises.  Here, is a list of guys who deserve the honor by franchise:

 

Atlanta: Cliff Hagan, Lenny Wilkens

Boston: None

Chicago: Norm Van Lier, Artis Gilmore, Chet Walker, Scottie Pippen

Cleveland: None

Dallas: Derek Harper, Mark Aguirre

Denver: Fat Lever

Detroit: George Yardley, Bailey Howell, Dennis Rodman

Golden State: Paul Arizin, Purvis Short, Jeff Mullins, Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin

Houston Rockets: None

Indiana Pacers: Rik Smits, Mark Jackson

L.A. Lakers: George Mikan

L.A. Clippers: Bob McAdoo, Randy Smith, Danny Manning

Memphis: Too early (established in 1995-96)

Miami Heat: Tim Hardaway, Alonzo Mourning

Milwaukee Bucks: Terry Cummings, Bobby Dandridge

Minnesota Timberwolves: None

New Jersey: None

New Orleans: Alonzo Mourning, Glen Rice, Larry Johnson

New York: Richie Guerin, Bernard King

Philadelphia: Moses Malone, Dolph Schayes, Chet Walker

Phoenix: None

Portland: Terry Porter

Sacramento: None

San Antonio: None

Seattle: Shawn Kemp, Detlef Schrempf, Spencer Haywood

Toronto: Too early (established in 1995-96)

Utah: Adrian Dantley

Washington: Phil Chenier

 

I realize that a bunch of these guys will never be retired because they starred in other cities (McAdoo in Buffalo, Mikan in Minneapolis, and Schayes in Syracuse).  In addition, some of these guys lack the "good will" we talked about (Aguirre and Dantley in particular).  The only really glaring omission is Moses in Philly.  That should be remedied soon.  Finally, I didn't try to pick too many good will guys like Charles Oakley or Muggsy Bogues who might get the honor at some point but really don't deserve it solely on talent.