Spurs To Retire Avery Johnson's Number 6

[FromWayDowntown]

This will be the closest thing Mav Fan gets to winning a le...I doubt they'll be upset.

Well, after raising their banner for the best 56-game stretch in the history of mankind (or whatever), the Mavs will likely set another monsterous record in the history of American sports by having the most consecutive coaches to have had their playing numbers retired by other organizations.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Good to see the AJ haters in full throat. AJ has been shaking off haters since high school. It wouldn't be right if no one was bashing him. Props

I don't get why people still don't understand why AJ deserves this. He had a huge part in bringing the Spurs their first championship ... which opened the door for everything we see today. Without that first one, the dominoes don't fall the same way and this team doesn't win three more.

True, he was never that good of a player. Although considering he had barely any natural talent, he made himself into as good of a player as possible. AJ wasn't much of an athlete, wasn't fast, wasn't a born shooter and was about 5-foot-9 ... but he worked on his game and became a championship caliber point guard in 1999.

It's laughable when people try to say someone else (for example Mario Elie) was more of an emotional leader for the Spurs during the 1999 season. AJ was far and away the emotional leader. Moreso than Elie. Moreso than Pop. Moreso than anyone you want to name on the Spurs.

During the lockout, AJ was the one who got all the players together and had them working practicing. When the Spurs started off slowly, Pop threw away his offense and let AJ install a new offense. During the rest of the season, AJ was the one who kept everyone in line. During the playoffs, he was the one who never let the Spurs stop believing that some small quiet town in the middle of nowhere could be the home of NBA champions.

I oftentimes say AJ invented Spurs Basketball and I still hold that as true. Spurs fans take for granted how everyone in the Spurs organization only cares about winning championships. That environment didn't create itself.

He also helped Pop become the coach he is today. In fact, AJ was more of the coach of the 1999 team than Pop was. It was his offense the Spurs ran. When scouting other teams, AJ would often get the last call on what defense the Spurs would run.

As far as his number retirement goes, he more than deserves it. As a fan, all I care about is championships. I don't care if you lead the league in assists or have commercials or win the MVP. The only thing I hope for as a fan is a championship. And AJ was a huge, huge part of the first championship.

Without AJ, the Spurs don't win the 1999 championship. A more talented point guard wouldn't have been enough. As Spurs fans, we should be able to tell by now that championships aren't won with talent alone. You need the drive, the wisdom, the determination and the belief. AJ had that in abundance.

I remain thankful today for all AJ has done for the team I root for. He helped carry this franchise from annual pretender to annual contender. Other Spurs fans might dislike AJ or think that his jersey shouldn't have been retired, that's find and it's your right as a fan. But just know that every time you celebrate a championship, you are celebrating the winning culture that AJ had a huge part in founding.

Thank you, AJ. You helped us all Believe.

You can say whatver you want its America after all.

Avery Johnson in 7 straight seasons with the Spurs practiced hard enough to be able to hit a 15 footer from that left side of the floor consistently for one season and becaseu of that he was not enough of a liability so that we could win the Championship.

We won that 99 Championship because we had the best frontcourt assembled that the game has ever seen.

For 94-98 Avery Johnson and his leadership culminated in a reputation of a soft team and repeatedly getting our asses handed to us by Utah in the playoffs. Funny how Duncan arrives and Spurs basketball comes about but its AJ who invented it? Give me a ing break.

His leadership style consisted of being an asshole which is a byproduct of military style leadership which was given creedence tbecause of our militaries success in WWII. 50 years and a couple failed military 'engagements' and noone wants to be yelled at by some asshole that cannot put his money where his mouth is.

Guys like Robinson listen to that horse because the Navy taught him to. Apparently, Malik Rose told Johnson what he could do with his 'leadership' so Johnson attacked him in the shower. Real leadership there.

And furthermore you claim that Johnson's leadership was 'necessary' but weve been missing the club asshole for the last several years and have a few championships to show for it. i wonder how we did that without Johnson and his 'leadership.'

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Is that how you remember it?

He went to the Nuggets when the Spurs didn't offer him a contract.

But why would Pop and Buford do that if his toughness, leadership and shooting were so integral to our success.

And those games against Nash that you keep on touting as a sign of his clutchness i would love to see the shot chart for those games cause I bet you money I know exactly where the majority of those made shots were coming from.

Jordan shooting from there when double teamed is impressive anyone else doing it while wide open because people are doubling off of him to defend that frontcourt not so much.

[whottt]

But why would Pop and Buford do that if his toughness, leadership and shooting were so integral to our success.

And with nary a peep from Duncan and Robinson...


And you know something else?

When the Spurs played the Sonics and Duncan was facing off against his friend AD...Duncan was being a giant puss.


When the Spurs faced off against AJ and the Mavs, I have never seen Duncan want it more, play harder, or be more mean about it...except maybe against LeBron in this past years finals.


This past season they had Drob on an interview for Mike and Mike and Drob flat out said AJ would get on his nerves...and they are best friends...and DRob is a thousand times more likely to put up with that crap than Duncan.

[whottt]

The fact is the Spurs were trying to dump AJ long before they decided not to resign him...


Just because Pop likes hte guy doesn't mean he's all that.....see Brown, Larry.

[ducks]

I want to know who the spurs leader is now that aj is not a spur anymore
for those that are saying aj was reason for the one le with david

tp instead of aj I bet spurs with david would win more les

[Willinsa]

I seriously think by retiring his jersey if you look at his OVERALL numbers we are lowering the bar even more to any former spur. Whose next Malik Rose?

[ShoogarBear]

I seriously think by retiring his jersey if you look at his OVERALL numbers we are lowering the bar even more to any former spur. Whose next Malik Rose?

What about Bruce's overall numbers?

[whottt]

Damn...for years and years there was a link to the fight between Malik and AJ on an old ESPN Web Page...and now it's gone.


Was pretty revealing...not only the reasons behind the fight, but also the fact that the Spurs were definitely trying to trade AJ for anything they could get...just to get him off the team.


The funniest part was the quote from a team member that the fight resembled the worst parts of a Roman Orgy

There was speculation that only Sean Elliott would have made that quote.

[Das Texan]

Well that now means that the following will now be retired:

21 (no )
20
9
12
bottle of wine


did i miss anything?

[SenorSpur]

Damn...for years and years there was a link to the fight between Malik and AJ on an old ESPN Web Page...and now it's gone.


Was pretty revealing...not only the reasons behind the fight, but also the fact that the Spurs were definitely trying to trade AJ for anything they could get...just to get him off the team.


The funniest part was the quote from a team member that the fight resembled the worst parts of a Roman Orgy

There was speculation that only Sean Elliott would have made that quote.

What were the reasons behind the fight?

[ShoogarBear]

What were the reasons behind the fight?

Whether AJ or Malik deserved their numbers retired.

[curtismedellin]

the only reason "aj" is getting his jersey retired is because he had a cute accent and was a great quote for the local media. did this guy even live in SA? he doesn't desrve a retired number. and yes i will boo.

OVERRATED!!!!!!!! (clap clap clap clap clap) OVERRATED!!!!!!!!!!

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Damn...for years and years there was a link to the fight between Malik and AJ on an old ESPN Web Page...and now it's gone.


Was pretty revealing...not only the reasons behind the fight, but also the fact that the Spurs were definitely trying to trade AJ for anything they could get...just to get him off the team.


The funniest part was the quote from a team member that the fight resembled the worst parts of a Roman Orgy

There was speculation that only Sean Elliott would have made that quote.

i know for a fact that the Spurs Fo tried to cover it up. The amount of pull the Spurs have with the local media is amazing. O'keefe for example is blackballed here.

But I remember Harvey or someone making an article on the subject the day that it happened and that article was pulled off the site within a matter of hours.

I got a ton of over at SR because of it but all that told me was that Johnson was an asshole and a coward.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

What were the reasons behind the fight?

it wsa the year after the championship and the Spur were not playing well. Johnson had completely gone in the toilet and was still getting in peoples faces even though he was playing the most ty of all.

Malik told him to go get ed and i guess Johnson didnt like that.

[whottt]

i know for a fact that the Spurs Fo tried to cover it up. The amount of pull the Spurs have with the local media is amazing. O'keefe for example is blackballed here.

But I remember Harvey or someone making an article on the subject the day that it happened and that article was pulled off the site within a matter of hours.

I got a ton of over at SR because of it but all that told me was that Johnson was an asshole and a coward.

Pretty sure the article is still available on the ESPN Insider Archives...it was on a webpage that was the precursor for ESPN Insider and they probably finally got around to moving it.



I actually don't know if Insider has archives, but I definitely know it was an ESPN Insider type article.

[whottt]

i know for a fact that the Spurs Fo tried to cover it up. The amount of pull the Spurs have with the local media is amazing. O'keefe for example is blackballed here.

But I remember Harvey or someone making an article on the subject the day that it happened and that article was pulled off the site within a matter of hours.

I got a ton of over at SR because of it but all that told me was that Johnson was an asshole and a coward.

And by the way...that's exactly the reason you will never hear a Spur or anyone connected with them say a bad word about this retirement...becuase they keep that stuff in house....

And Don Harris flat out put them on the spot with it.....it was a total heist.


The fact that Pop mentioned it was AJ's jersey as he was handing it to Manu tells you their true intentions...they definitely knew it was AJ's jersey...and they definitely weren't planning on retiring it...

[duncan228]

And by the way...that's exactly the reason you will never hear a Spur or anyone connected with them say a bad word about this retirement...becuase they keep that stuff in house....

One of the reasons I love this team.
happens. Keep it behind closed doors.
Show a Team front to us.

[Hemotivo]

The fact that Pop mentioned it was AJ's jersey as he was handing it to Manu tells you their true intentions...they definitely knew it was AJ's jersey...and they definitely weren't planning on retiring it...

Exactly

[DontHatethePlayer]

[QUOTE=whottt]They won't boo him and they'll probably cheer...booing would be a pretty classless thing to do. Not to mention the fact that the people that most want to go to that night, are AJ fans.

I agree with Whottt that the Spurs fans will probably cheer for him, although I'm not sure that they will give him the "thunderous applause" that FWD thinks he deserves. I should certainly hope, though, that Spurs fans don't stoop to Avery's level and act "classless" by booing him.

I understand that Avery may have had some contributions during his time as a Spurs player (and even as a coach), but it is hard to separate the man from the player. I have problems with the man. His behavior has not impressed me in the least bit, particularly in the past couple of years. The man has no loyalty and no appreciation for where he came from. With that being said, I'm not sure his manhood is one of the qualifications for having his jersey retired. So go ahead Avery, enjoy your moment however you fanagled your way into it.

If nothing else, maybe Avery will learn a little something about class during the ceremony that he can take home. We can always hope can't we?

[SequSpur]

You can say whatver you want its America after all.

Avery Johnson in 7 straight seasons with the Spurs practiced hard enough to be able to hit a 15 footer from that left side of the floor consistently for one season and becaseu of that he was not enough of a liability so that we could win the Championship.

We won that 99 Championship because we had the best frontcourt assembled that the game has ever seen.

For 94-98 Avery Johnson and his leadership culminated in a reputation of a soft team and repeatedly getting our asses handed to us by Utah in the playoffs. Funny how Duncan arrives and Spurs basketball comes about but its AJ who invented it? Give me a ing break.

His leadership style consisted of being an asshole which is a byproduct of military style leadership which was given creedence tbecause of our militaries success in WWII. 50 years and a couple failed military 'engagements' and noone wants to be yelled at by some asshole that cannot put his money where his mouth is.

Guys like Robinson listen to that horse because the Navy taught him to. Apparently, Malik Rose told Johnson what he could do with his 'leadership' so Johnson attacked him in the shower. Real leadership there.

And furthermore you claim that Johnson's leadership was 'necessary' but weve been missing the club asshole for the last several years and have a few championships to show for it. i wonder how we did that without Johnson and his 'leadership.'

in A Exactly!

[SequSpur]

I ing own this argument. I posted 3 items in this mofo and none of you can rebut on it....

BTW, Rod Strickland sucked.

[ShoogarBear]

Ba-low me.

[ducks]

the reason for the fight was rosE SAID aj sucked and aj took issues with the truth

[SequSpur]

Ba-low me.

owned.