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The greatest honour a basketball player can receive after his retirement is having his jersey number retired as well. The respect of having the team you represented prevent any other player from wearing the number you had on your back as a testimony of your great career.
Number retirement doesn’t come easy. Only the greatest of the greats earn this privilege and they had to work hard and play exceptionally well to get it. Moreover, it is evidence to how a single person can affect the legacy and history of a franchise and set his place in the hearts of millions of fans all around the world.
Some of the players who got their number retired by their team are also staples in NBA history. They helped shape the era they played in and were featured in some of the greatest moments and rivalries the league ever had to offer.
Here is a look at the greatest NBA players ever to have their jersey number retired.
#1 Michael Jordan, No. 23 retired by the Bulls and the Heat
Michael Jordan's name has become a synonym for the NBA. Widely considered the greatest of all time, Jordan and his 1990's Chicago Bulls ruled the league with an iron fist, winning six titles in six finals appearances.
It didn’t matter how good you were or how much Michael's health was in question, he was always better.
Jordan is Chicago's all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists, steals and minutes. He is also responsible for the Bulls' first NBA Finals appearance and title in 1991, eventually winning six of those.
Chicago's greatest achievement without Jordan is reaching the conference finals, only once before and once after his era.
Jordan's legacy extends outside of Chicago, as he is fourth on the NBA all-time leading scorers list and holds the best career point average of 30.1 per game.
This might explain why the Miami Heat decided to retire his number as well in 2003, even though he never played a single game for the team.
#2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, No. 33 retired by the Lakers and the Bucks
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, formerly known as Lew Alcindor, changed history for two teams. He was drafted first overall by the Milwaukee Bucks and played six years for the team. He led them to their first and only NBA title to date in 1971 and their only other finals appearance in 1974.
Since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis in 1960 and until the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trade in 1975, they were notorious for losing.
They lost eight of their nine NBA Finals appearances in that span, even though they had superstars like Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. In his 14 years-long run at The Forum, Kareem delivered five NBA titles and a winning mentality to the Lakers.
With his revolutionary "skyhook" shot, Kareem dominated the league in his prime. He scored 38,387 points in his career, first in the NBA's all-time scorers list, and won the MVP award a record of six times.
#3 Larry Bird, No. 33 retired by the Celtics
Larry Bird is definitely one of the greatest players to wear the green jersey of the Boston Celtics. After snatching him from Indiana's hands in the 1978 NBA Draft, the Celtics had to wait a year until Bird made his debut, but it was worth it.
Larry Legend played 13 years in the NBA, all for Boston, winning three titles in a difficult era with Magic's Lakers and Dr J's sixers. Bird won three consecutive MVP awards, a fit only former Celtic, Bill Russell, has achieved. He also led the Celtics' original "Big-Three" of him, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale.
Bird's legacy continued into his post-playing career, as a coach and later as an executive for the Indiana Pacers. To this day, he is the only person in NBA history to be named NBA MVP, Coach of the Year an Executive of the Year. Other awards he won include Rookie of the Year, All-Star MVP and NBA Finals MVP.
#4 Magic Johnson, No. 32 retired by the Lakers
If any other team other than the Lakers drafted Magic Johnson in the 1979 NBA Draft, they would probably have to retire a different number. Magic wore 33 for Michigan State and entered the league as the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and champion. However, superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar already occupied this number, so he had to settle for 32.
Kareem and Magic's "Showtime" Lakers took the league by storm, winning a title in Magic's rookie year. They continued to rule the NBA with the addition of players like James Worthy and Byron Scott, winning five NBA championships in total until Kareem's retirement.
Even though Johnson's career was cut short due to his battle with HIV, he managed to win three MVP awards and be selected to the All-NBA First Team nine consecutive times. He revolutionized the game as a 6-9 point guard and laid the foundation for one of the greatest franchises of all time.
#5 Wilt Chamberlain, No. 13 retired by the Lakers, the 76ers and the Warriors
If you were to write a book of unbreakable NBA records, Wilt Chamberlain will probably have a whole chapter dedicated to him. Some of his amazing records include the most points-per-game in a season (50.4), the most rebounds-per-game in a season (27.2), and most points in a single game, with 100. But he also holds the impressive record for jersey number retired by most teams, with three.
With the Warriors (originally in Philadelphia, later in San Francisco), he averaged over 40 points and 25 rebounds in his first five years. He was traded in his sixth year to the 76ers and won the franchise its second NBA title, first in 12 years. In 1968, he joined fellow future Hall of Famers, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, and ended the Lakers' losing streak in the finals, which stood at seven straight.
Chamberlain will probably be featured in NBA record books for the foreseeable future and has earned the right to have his name and number hung from the rafters at three different arenas.
#6 Kobe Bryant, No. 8 and No. 24 retired by the Lakers
Kobe Bryant's jersey retirement is perhaps the most special one in NBA history yet. It was the only incident to date of a player having two numbers retired by the same team.
In the beginning, Kobe chose the No. 8 by adding the digits of the number he wore in a high school basketball camp (143). With this number on his back, Kobe won three consecutive NBA championships, alongside teammate and future Hall of Famer, Shaquille O'Neal. He also recorded the second best scoring performance in NBA history, with 81 points against Toronto, in January 2006.
Ahead of the 2006-07 NBA season, Bryant decided to change his number from 8 to 24. The latter was Bryant's original number in high school and wasn’t available for him in 1996 when he joined the Lakers. With the new number, Kobe won two additional titles and his first and only MVP award.
Bryant's success with both numbers on his back left the Lakers no choice but to retire both.
#7 Bill Russell, No. 6 retired by the Celtics
In a very analytical era of basketball, a look at Bill Russell's stats could make one think he wasn’t that much of a superstar. Even though he did average over 22 rebounds-per-game for his career, he never averaged more than 20 points-per-game in a season. However, numbers don’t tell Russell's full story.
During his 13-year career in the league, Russell led the biggest powerhouse in that era of the NBA, the Boston Celtics. They won 11 championships during Russell's time as the team's starting big man. Even though he wasn’t the focal point of the team offensively, his man-to-man defence and rim protecting placed him among the greatest in the league.
Russell's 11 NBA Finals rings make him one of the biggest winners in American sports; his success earned him an induction to the Hall of Fame and in 2005, the league honoured him by naming the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award after him.
#8 Shaquille O'Neal, No. 32 retired by the Heat and No. 34 retired by the Lakers
Shaquille O'Neal might be one of the most dominant players in the modern NBA. Standing at 7-1, weighing at over 300 pounds, nobody could stop Shaq in his prime, including rims.
He started his career in Orlando and led the Magic to the franchise's first ever NBA Finals in 1995. After failing to return to the finals a year later, Shaq joined the Los Angeles Lakers and the recently drafted high school senior, Kobe Bryant.
After a rocky first few years, the two managed to put differences aside and helped the Lakers win three straight titles.
However, after failing to win another one the next two years, their relationship had run aground. Shaq demanded a trade and the Lakers sent him East to Miami.
With another new and young guard in Dwyane Wade, Diesel grabbed his fourth and final ring in 2006.
During his 19-year career, O'Neal led the league in field goal percentage ten times, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's 36-year-long record. He also won the MVP award in 2000.
#9 Tim Duncan, No. 21 retired by the Spurs
In the San Antonio Spurs 51-year history, the Spurs missed the playoffs only five times. Because of that, they had only six top-10 draft picks over the years, two of those were first overall. Tim Duncan, who was one of those selections, was certainly worth the pick.
In his rookie year already, Duncan earned an All-Star appearance and an All-NBA first team selection.
He was voted Rookie of the Year and even ranked fifth in MVP voting. He is career continued to rise with an NBA title the following year. By the time he retired, he had won five NBA championships and two consecutive MVP awards.
Duncan holds the record for most consecutive regular-season games with a field goal made (1360).
The streak stretched from his debut game in the league in October 1997, all the way to December 2015, less than five months before his retirement. Overall, Duncan failed to score a field goal in just six of his 1392 regular season games.
#10 Hakeem Olajuwon, No. 34 retired by the Rockets
Hakeem Olajuwon was selected first overall in the 1984 NBA Draft, before future Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton.
Even though he didn’t win Rookie of the Year, he did live up to expectations pretty quickly. He averaged 20.6 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in his rookie year, earning an All-Star selection and All-Defensive Second Team honours.
After almost leaving Houston in the summer of 1993, Hakeem had the most successful year of his career; he led the Rockets to their first ever NBA title while winning regular season MVP, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, the only player in NBA history to achieve this fit.
"The Dream" was one of the best defensive players in the league, leading the NBA in blocks three times, but was also known for his signature offensive move.
By doing "The Dream Shake", Olajuwon was able to misdirect, freeze or shake off his opponents, making his shots very difficult to defend. Hakeem eventually won two NBA titles for Houston.
