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Tom Copa was a fan favorite.
AJ was certainly an outstanding point guard in his career as a Spur and in addition to that he was the team leader throughout the mid to late 1990s and including the championship run. He was also one of the more popular Spurs ever.
Again, this is a friggin' franchise distinction, not the HOF.
Tom Copa was a fan favorite.
The Spurs pretty obviously think otherwise. I doubt it was purely an oversight that they were ready to give Manu 6. Time and the memories of AJ will fade except for a few hardcore. Someday someone else wil wear no. 6 and no. 20 will likley go in the rafters.
True SD, but it's the total package.
I was jesting. Tom Copa #30 was cool, though.
AJ was never an outstanding PG. He was poor defensively. He was top 5 in APG exactly once. He never scored 14PPG. He could never shoot threes. He was never considered for the all-star team - so he was never top 2-3 PGs in his conference.
A list of retired jerseys. How many players had their numbers retired that didn't get a whiff of an all-star game? Players suffering untimely deaths like Sealy and Phills excluded.
http://www.insidehoops.com/nba-retired-numbers.shtml
So AJ wasn't an All-NBA team member or an all-NBA defensive team member. He was definitely top 10 in assists in the mid to late 1990s for a number of seasons. How about total assists for a PG in the 1990s?
Also, where does he rank on the Spurs' all-time list?
Last edited by Marcus Bryant; 10-04-2004 at 04:04 PM.
AJ built the foundation that is Spurs Basketball. He was the heart and soul of the team in the '90s. He was a key part to the first championship in franchise history. In that championship, he was as much a coach as Gregg Popovich.
To say that he doesn't deserve to have number retired is short-sighted.
There is no set criteria for retired numbers. The most common denominator is what kind of impact that player had on the fans of that team. AJ will never be confused with Magic Johnson as far statistics but his value to the franchise is immeasurable. He gave 100% on and off the court. If you look at pure stats, no, AJ should not have his number retired. However, stats alone are not why numbers are retired.
My standards are high. If it was up to me, only 44, 13, and 50 would be retired.
And 13 would be borderline.
And there's no bigger Si fan than me.
Given that Moore's number is retired, though, it's hard to argue against AJ and Sean.
A couple of years ago on another forum, I posted a list of all of the retired jerseys in the NBA, along with Efficiency numbers. I then compared AJ and Sean's numbers to the list and found that both of them would fall into the bottom ten.
Obviously numbers don't tell the whole story, and I really don't have an opinion on either players as far as retiring their numbers... but I do think that, particularly with the success the Spurs are likely to enjoy over the next ten years, there are going to be a LOT of players as worthy or more worthy than AJ and Sean of having their numbers hang, and I would not want to cheapen the honor by doing it for all of our above average starters.
San Antonio Spurs fans don't realize how successful this franchise has been. I believe only the Lakers and Celtics have a higher NBA winning percentage (that was a couple years ago, the Spurs may have moved up the list). With that must success, you are going to have a lot of retired jersies. Adding 6, 32, 21, 9 and 20 for multiple championship teams isn't asking too much.
Think big, Spurs fans.
And yet there's a few statistics:
Total # of rings for:
KJ/Hardaway/Stockton/Payton : 0
AJ: 1
# Of Championship - winning shots:
KJ/Hardaway/Stockton/Payton : 0
AJ: 1
I agree with Shoog that for now it should only be 50,44,00 and 13. When Duncan retires then put his up, and that's it for awhile.
Spurs are still at #3 all-time winning percentage.
If you're going to compare them to the Celtics and Lakers, then you need to use the same criteria as those teams to get your number retired: a) HoF numbers, or b) contributed significantly to championships, to have your number retired.
(or you can do it how Reggie Lewis did . . . but most would prefer not.)
The Lakers and Celtics have over 30 jersies retired. The Spurs have four.
I have an idea. Why don't we revoke 13 and 00 and then only hang 44, 50 and 21. It's not like the Spurs are the third winningest franchise in the sport's history or anything.
The Lakers and Celtics have 30 NBA championships.
The Spurs have 2.
The ratio seems about right.
How many championships do the Suns have? They have 8 retired jersies.
P.S.
How many championships do the Jazz have?
NBA All-Stars as a San Antonio Spur
Tim Duncan (6)
David Robinson (10)
Sean Elliott (2)
Alvin Robertson (3)
Artis Gilmore (2)
George Gervin (9)
Larry Kenon (2)
ABA Spurs
George Gervin (2)
Larry Kenon (1)
James Silas (2)
Billy Paultz (1)
Swen Nater (2)
Rich Jones (1)
But it sure wasn't from AJ keeping them from those rings and shots.
I'm cool with hanging AJ's jersey up in the rafters. He's still a fan fave in SA and a good citizen, stuff the organization thinks highly of. Let him finish whatever the he's doing for the Mavs this season and have a big celebration. They can invite Cedric the Entertainer to the ceremony and have him do his AJ impersonation.
Why does it matter that the player be an all-star to have a jersey retired? Other teams honor fans, announcers, and front office personnel. The Spurs can honor the guy who ran the point on its' first championship team and hit the series-clinching jumper however they see fit.
Kurt Rambis had more rings than Barkley - does that mean he was a better player?
What about Edgar Jones? Shouldn't his number be retired???
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