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neither, i'd rather see AJ's number retired as a maverick...i guess some spurs fans don't remember the 99 championship and how it was won
neither, i'd rather see AJ's number retired as a maverick...i guess some spurs fans don't remember the 99 championship and how it was won
Golden State Warrior!
Tim Duncan, right?
I'll agree with whottt to this extent: I think that one could argue that at least 3 or 4 Spurs played bigger roles in the 1999 run than Avery Johnson.
Tim Duncan and David Robinson are givens. David played Shaq well in Round 2 that year and held the fort at times against Portland when Tim was ineffective because of Rasheed Wallace. David also intensified that team a bit with his melee in Minnesota that year.
Sean Elliott was a monsterous part of that run with his defense on Kobe in Round 2 and Sprewell in the Finals, to say nothing of his Memorial Day Miracle.
Mario Elie gave a relatively soft team a very, very hard edge in mid-March and that team never looked back from a bad loss to Utah.
And, Jaren Jackson hit 3's like they were going out of style in LA and Portland to help put those series to bed early and advance the Spurs past any real strife.
AJ was steady and he hit the last shot of the Finals, but it's hardly as if he did it with time running down on the game clock. What sealed the Finals wasn't so much that shot as it was the Spurs' defense. And I think one would be hard-pressed to say that AJ was ever the face of that effort.
AJ will always be a key part of the Spurs first le team and I will always hold him in high regard for the manner in which he comported himself publicly and the way in which he worked to become the player who was a key part of that le team. Those were fun days to be a Spurs fan. As are these.
Last edited by FromWayDowntown; 05-10-2006 at 06:33 PM.
I remember. The toughest foe talentwise by far the Spurs faced that year was Portland. We were about to lose homecourt advantage in the second game when Sean hit the Memorial Day Miracle. Avery hit a baseline chippy, true an accomplishment for him, in a series where the NY Knicks were deadmen walking.
don't forget to include NVE!
Who hit the jumpers to bring the Spurs back? Without AJ scoring in the fourth, there would have been no MDM.
If you're going to make the argument that BB should have his # retired, then it's rather difficult to exclude AJ.
I would rather see Bruce Bowen retire.
[whottt]If Stoudemire hadn't shot 7-15 that day, there might not have been an MDM, either.[/whottt]Who hit the jumpers to bring the Spurs back? Without AJ scoring in the fourth, there would have been no MDM.
Would you people SHUT THE UP about the Memorial Day Miracle already! Sheesh.
Actually, in many cities the resumes don't have to be very thick at all. And there are more than a few flat-out jokes amongst the retired numbers.
Here is a list of the retired numbers (or otherwise retired memorabilia) for NBA teams. I have annoted the ones I personally consider as questionable with *, and the flat-out jokes with **.
One way to get your number retired if you're not great is to just play a long time with a sucky team. Another appears to be dying while still an active player.
Hawks: Lou Hudson, Bob Pet , Dominique Wilkins
Celtics: Robert Parish, Walter Brown (owner), Red Auerbach (coach), Dennis Johnson, Bill Russell, Jo Jo White, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Tom Sanders*, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Jim Loscutoff**, Don Nelson*, Bill Sharman, Ed Macaley, Frank Ramsey, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones*, Cedric Maxwell*, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Reggie Lewis**
Bobcats: none
Bulls: Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen
Cavaliers: Bingo Smith, Larry Nance, Mark Price, Austin Carr, Nate Thurmond**[played with Cleveland 114 games!], Brad Daugherty
Mavericks: Brad Davis, Rolando Blackman
Nuggets: Alex English, David Thompson, Bryon Beck**, Dan Issel, Doug Moe
Pistons: Chuck Daly, Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas, Vinnie Johnson, Bob Lanier, Dave Bing, Bill Laimbeer
Warriors: Wilt Chamberlain, Tom Meschery**, Al Attles*, Rich Barry, Nate Thurmond
Rockets: Clyde Drexler**, Calvin Murphy, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Rudy Tomjanovich
Pacers: George McGinnis, Mel Daniels, Roger Brown, Slick Leonard
Clippers: none
Lakers: Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Jerry West, Chick Hearn
Grizzlies: none
Heat: Michael Jordan******** [single biggest joke of all-time, and maybe the single most embarrassing moment in sports history]
Bucks: Oscar Robertson, Junior Bridgeman*, Sidney Moncrief, Jon McGlocklin*, Bob Lanier, Brian Winters, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Timberwolves: Malik Sealy* [died after 113 games with Twolves]
Nets: Drazen Petorvic, Wendell Ladner** [died after 25 games with Nets], John Williamson, Bill Melchionni*, Julius Erving, Buck Williams
Hornets: Pete Maravich********* [another joke, he never played for them, they retired the number after they moved to N.O.], Bobby Phills*
Knicks: Walt Frazier, Barnett, Earl Monroe, McGuire*, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Patrick Ewing, Red Holzman
Magic: Fans******** [second biggest all-time joke]
76ers: Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Bobby Jones, Billy Cunningham, Charles Barkley, Dave Zinkoff
Suns: van Arsdale, Walter Davis, Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Alvan Adams, Charles Barkley, Connie Hawkins, Pual Westphal
Trail Blazers: Larry Weinberg, Dave Twardzik*, Larry Steele, Maurice Lucas, Clyde Drexler, Bill Walton, Lloyd Neal*, Geoff Petrie, Jack Ramsay
Kings: Nate Archibald, Mitch Richmond, Sixth Man (fan)*******, Bob Davies, Maurice Stokes, Oscar Robertson, Jack Twyman, Sam Lacey
Spurs: Johnny Moore*, James Silas, George Gervin, David Robinson, Sean Elliotttt
SuperSonics: Gus Williams, Nate McMillan, Lenny Wilkens, Fred Brown, Jack Sikma, Bob Blackburn (broadcaster)
Raptors: none
Jazz: Frank Layden, Pete Maravich, John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, Darrell Griffith, Mark Eaton
Wizards: Elvin Hayes, Gus Johnson, Wes Unseld
Twardzik, Steele, and Neal should all have two stars (**) for the Blazers.
The Magic retired the FANS?!?!?! Maybe that's why they keep losing. I didn't know that about the Heat/Jordan, hilarious.
Bulls: Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen
The Bulls get it...
The Lakers don't really have that many considering the success they've had...I think they should set the example for the Spurs.
Oh and Shoogar you are kind of a hardass on the death, life altering illness thing...
Is it really hard to understand why teams do that? Reggie Lewis having his jersey retired his not a joke at all.
It is funny that the Heat retired Jordan's jersey...while the Wizards haven't.
I figured anyone who contributed to an NBA championship couldn't really get two stars. Steele also qualifies under the "played a long time with a sucky team" criterion.
Yeah, in retrospect I was harsh on the Reggie Lewis one, probably because I had some proximity to that whole situation. But would the Celtics have retired his number if they had known at the time his death was due to cocaine use?
Great thread.
LMAO, the fact that this can even be debated shows how f'd up it would be for Avery to have his number retired.
I dont think either should have their numbers hanging
bruce has been here for 4 years
avery won and started a lot of games, hit a le winning shot and holds club records
avery is more deserving.
It never occurred to me you're so funny whott.
BRUCE BOWEN !!!
Who cares? Spurs would've still won the Championship with or without Avery's shot.
AJ baby! Yeah! You guys know that one day Bowen will lead the Nuggets or Sonics into San Antonio as their coach and own your asses
And when he does we'll do the appropriate revisionist history.AJ baby! Yeah! You guys know that one day Bowen will lead the Nuggets or Sonics into San Antonio as their coach and own your asses
Everyone will be saying they never liked Bruce while he was here anyway, and we'll point out how he only had one career playoff dunk, and then say that Kevin Willis and Tony Massenburg were the real keys to our defense.
Bowen will tutor under Pop and become the Spurs head coach when Pop steps aside.
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