Retiring all those Blazer numbers
This is an uncomfortable conversation for me but enough people have asked me about it (this happens when you get old — people ask you a lot more historical questions and assume you were there calling “next” on the day Doc Naismith nailed the peach baskets to the wall).
The latest Blazer announcement that No. 30 is being retired for two players — Terry Porter and Bobby Gross — caught me a little off guard. I mean, everyone knew the Blazers were going to hang Porter’s number at some point. Gross, though, was a surprise because we’re talking about a player here who played in only 486 Trail Blazer games and averaged just 9.2 points in those games. Those stats don’t come close to matching up with another No. 30, Rasheed Wallace.
Don’t get me wrong, I would be the last person to suggest Wallace’s number should be retired. His biggest contribution to Blazer history was inscribed on a T-shirt I still wear that says, “Both teams played hard.”
I’m not here today to bury anyone. A lot of the people mentioned in this post are friends of mine. Bob Gross was a key player on a Portland team that won an NBA championship and stats certainly aren’t everything when it comes to evaluating a player’s contribution to a franchise.
But I’ve always wondered, what exactly is the criteria for retiring a number?
Portland has laundry in the rafters right now honoring its former owner, Larry Weinberg, its former broadcaster, Bill Schonely, its former general manager, Harry Glickman, a former coach, Jack Ramsay and former players Dave Twardzik, Lionel Hollins, Larry Steele, Maurice Lucas, Clyde Drexler, Bill Walton, Lloyd Neal and Geoff Petrie. Porter and Gross will soon join them.
That’s a lot of cloth hanging from the ceiling of a team that’s won just one championship, isn’t it?
One of the people who has a number retired told me several years ago that he thought the Blazers made a huge mistake in not putting one banner up for the championship team — with all the numbers or names of the players on that team — but not actually retiring all those numbers. You know, honor all those guys but don’t get carried away by putting their number away.
I agree with that. I think retiring numbers should be saved for Hall of Fame caliber players — or people who have been with the franchise for a long period of time, like Schonely. And I’d hope that when retiring a player’s number, that fans could look up there and see that number and know who the player is, without the name even being attached to it. Clyde? That’s No. 22, of course. It always will be. Walton? 32! Luke? 20! You know those, right? It would have been silly for anyone else to attempt to wear those numbers after those guys wore them.
Lloyd Neal? He was No. 36. Larry Steele was 15. Twardzik had lucky 13. I love those guys. Great people. Now I hate to play this game, but fans do it all the time – you could start comparing statistical contributions and ask where is Jim Paxson’s No. 4? Mychal Thompson’s 43? What about Buck Williams’ 52? Jerome Kersey’s No. 25?
Again, the point isn’t to diminish anyone’s role in the history of the Trail Blazers. Congratulations to all of them. But when you need one program to identify the players on the court and another one to sort out the jerseys in the rafters, that may be a little much.
NBA, Trail Blazers | Dwight Jaynes | November 17, 2008
Bill Schonely, Bill Walton, Bob Gross, Buck Williams, Dave Twardzik, Dwight Jaynes, Harry Glickman, Jack Ramsay, Jim Paxson, Larry Wienberg, Lloyd Neal, Maurice Lucas, Mychal Thompson, Portland Trail Blazers, retired jerseys, Terry Porter
Completely agree, Dwight. Walton and Drexler’s jerseys should be retired for sure. Lucas and Porter are borderline, if you ask me… but I’m fine with their jerseys in the rafters. I also think the number 77 should be retired in honor of the entire team (not just Coach Ramsey)… and that should be it.
Twardzik, Neal, Hollins, etc… all great players but not great enough to be in the rafters.
I have to agree about the glut of retired numbers cheapening the process. But Lloyd Neal was always my favorite because he overachieved while playing hurt.
I invite anyone to correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Lloyd the only NBA player to ever wear #36?
DB
Honor Terry Porter. Glad it’s happening.
But honor Bobby Gross?
Blazers have managed to cheapen the Terry Porter moment by putting Mr. 9.2 ppg up there with him.
Use the North Carolina method. Have a superstar (Jordan, Worthy, Ford) retirement plan, and then honor the players that are on that next tier without retiring the jerseys.
It’s not about the supposed quality of the player, it’s about the contribution they made to our team. Take Larry Steele. He’s played the 6th most games of any Blazer, and remember that his career was cut short due to bad knees. He was really only 3 full seasons away from 1st. He, and Lloyd Neal, survived TWO team overhauls and played significant roles in winning a championship. Personally I’m glad that Portland is one of the only franchises that recognizes players like that.
Then there’s the Lakers, who will only retire your number if you’re a shoe in for the Hall of Fame.
Yes Portland got a little number retiring happy, what’s the big deal? Larry Weinberg’s number 1, retired in honor, was worn by Jarret Jack, it doesn’t even seem to be retired. Walton, Drexler, Lucas, all very deserving. Petrie, maybe only because the organization wanted to put their first number up there. So is this whole thing a shot at Dave Twardzik, Lloyd Neal, and Larry Steele?
I’m sure you know how happy this STATE was to win that championship. Is 3 extra retired numbers of players on that team a bad thing?
Maybe your jersey should be hung in the rafters Dwight. I think that your colunm’s have been the source for many debates over decades in the Portland area. Though I did’nt always agree with you, you did open my eyes more than once. I have to agree with the former player in that the whole team should have been honored, it took everyone of them to win it. Some contributed more, but all of them contributed.
I love the team idea. I would love to see a banner that has the 1977 team and the 1990 team. I hate retired numbers. I think they should hang numbers, but still having players wear them. Like Outlaw for example, I would like to see Kersey’s name and number in the refters, but I love to see outlaw with his number because it reminds me of Kersey and some of the good plays he had while I watch the game. I would like to see someone else wear #22, #30, #00, #32… So I can remember the past along with the current.