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hahahahaha,
Spurs without Bruce.
Spurs with Bruce.
Disagree. Those were the laker days with a younger Shaq and Kobe. They were a better team than the spurs. Bowen was on some of those teams that lost.
hahahahaha,
Spurs without Bruce.
Spurs with Bruce.
With Bowen the Spurs defeated one of the greatest teams of all time and were compe ive in the series they lost. With average perimeter defenders on Kobe the Spurs suffered the most embarrasing rout in Western Conference Finals history.
Exactly. Bowen's stats are not awe-inspiring but his contributions to the team, franchise and city are. A team can retire anyone's jersey for any reason they want. There are no set criteria so there really is no wrong or right. I say yes but not just because of his basketball, but also his work in the community.Yes. This isn't the Hall. Team jersey retirements allow teams to recognize those players who were a key part of a team's success yet were not superstars. Bowen clearly was a major part of the Spurs' last 3 championships.
For you Timvp...ElliottSean elliot was well liked and he too was a come back from major opertation
Sean was also a two-time all-star as well as a city favorite.
This is a no-brainer.
Anyone who doesn't want to retire it doesn't understand the concept of what it's all about.
Depends on how important the Spurs org. thinks of him and his services.
I believe you need the awe inspiring stats to get your jersey retired. Not just be a starting member of a team that won two or three les. Then Manu and Parker get their jerseys retired also because they were key members of championship teams.
You see where this is going? Only hall of fame players should get their jerseys retired.
And who are you to say that? It's the Spurs orginzation to decide whether Bowen was a player worthy enough of retiring his jersey. I guess basketball for you means stats are everything and nothing else.
Jersey retirements allow players who were instrumental in one way or another for a franchise to be recognized, even though they don't have HOF stats.
Tony and Manu will get their jerseys retired, so I don't see how this is some kind of slippery slope.
I dont think Bowen but its a borderline call.
I think if he wins DPOY , yes.
Avery Johnson then too if you get Bowen in .
I say yes. Bruce has done a lot for the team and the city.
Again , you give it to Bowen, you HAVE to give it to AVERY. They both Meant the same in 2 different ways to the Spurs.
We are basing Bowen on what he meant to the team, same with Avery. We all know Bowen is not Manu, Parker or Duncan or Gervin in terms of All Star caliber player, 20/10 etc.
Giving it to Bowen is like Johnny Moore getting his retired.
Only spurs fans really know what he did e ally in the 90's where games were less televised.
Everyone knows Bowen because of the popularity of the NBA now but still 10-20 years from now, you will have to explain why Bowen got his retired over say Duncan, Parker, etc.
The average fan who follows the NBA here and there in 15 years, will know Duncan, heard of David Robinson, Tony Parker and Manu, even maybe George Gervin, but you would have to describe why Bowen got his number retired.
Kind like a side kick to Parish, Larry Bird, McHale --- Cedric Maxwell in Boston, got his CELTIC jersey retired last year, many argued WHY HIM, but he was instrumental in one championship and was a staple to all three stars.
So i guess if Cedric can get his retired, Bowen can too.
but Im old school and I love how the baseball hall of fame works and makes it really hard to get in and snubs alot of worthy people based on votes, its not easy and it shouldnt be.
This isnt the HALL of FAME, this is the SPURS hall of fame of sorts but in my own preference, I like to see only SuperStars get their jersey retired.
DUNCAN, PARKER, MANU, GERVIN, SILAS, S. ELLIOT, MOORE
Flip a Coin: Bruce Bowen / Avery Johnson
Worth Mentioning but NO: Mike Mitc , Larry Kenon, Robert Horry, Terry mings, Eric Williams
ON A WAY DIFFERENT NOTE:
When Jordan dies, the whole league needs to retire the #23.
He moved the NBA from dark arenas to pop culture.
I wouldnt say jackie Robinson like, thats an injustice to the importance of Jackie but in a way similar in the progression of the NBA from the 70's to the 80's
It changed the game, the presentation and most importantly, IT CHANGED the lives of the players, revenue for players increased yearly as well as for teams and more oppurtunities for marketing revenue as well.
Changed the whole image of the NBA , to the one we know now.
He really changed the game of basketball.
although, he sucks as GM "Kwame Brown".
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016048.html
Michael Jordan transcends hoops
By Larry Schwartz
Special to ESPN.com
Was it really less than a decade ago that some doubted Michael Jordan? That he was considered all style and no substance? That he would continue to win scoring championships but that he would never elevate his team to a championship?
Now, as the century draws to a close, Jordan is recognized as an icon. Tall, dark and bald, he is the first man of the planet. The former Chicago Bulls guard had the rarest of gifts, the ability to transcend his sport. His fame and skill were intertwined, much as they were in earlier generations for a select few, such as the Babe and Ali.
"What has made Michael Jordan the First Celebrity of the World is not merely his athletic talent," Sports Illustrated wrote, "but also a unique confluence of artistry, dignity and history."
Michael Jordan
No one knew just how big Michael Jordan the skinny Chicago Bulls rookie would become someday.
His array of incredible moves and scintillating dunks delighted fans. There is an aura of class surrounding him that is lacking in many of today's athletes, even down to his dress, which is normally a thousand-dollar suit, tie knotted perfectly and a diamond-studded hoop in his left ear. But more than the clothes making the man, this man has made himself.
"In a world where celebrity wannabes feel they have a right to be whiny and boorish," Frank Deford wrote in SI, "Jordan has been remarkably dignified."
Unassuming as he appears, Jordan became a star of stars, chauffeured in limos, escorted by bodyguards, pursued by fans, media and sponsors. He made millions from the Bulls and millions more from his role as pitchman for everything from Wheaties to Gatorade, from McDonald's to Nike, with his Air Jordan sneakers spurring Nike's growth.
Jordan wasn't born a star, the player of whom Larry Bird said, "It's just God disguised as Michael Jordan." Jordan couldn't even make the varsity as a sop re at Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C.
"It was embarrassing not making that team," said the owner of two Olympic gold medals. "They posted the roster and it was there for a long, long time without my name on it. I remember being really mad, too, because there was a guy who made it that really wasn't as good as me."
Instead of pouting or making excuses over failure, Jordan uses it to spur him to greater achievement. For that alone youngsters should want to "Be Like Mike."
Jordan made himself into a megastar. His burning desire to win, his utter refusal to quit, his desire to carry his team to the mountaintop made him a legend in his time.
"Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I'd close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it," Jordan said, "and that usually got me going again."
Lead the Bulls to one NBA championship and he wanted a second. Win five rings and he wanted a sixth. He didn't know when to stop. In a world where so many people are satisfied with themselves, the 6-foot-6 Jordan was always pushing, pushing, pushing, both himself and his teammates.
Listen to two people who knew him before he was famous. There's Ruby Sutton, phys ed teacher at Laney: "He never wanted to lose in anything. That was in-born into him. I normally get to school between 7 and 7:30. Michael would be at school before I would. Every time I'd come in and open these doors, I'd hear the basketball. Fall, wintertime, summertime. Most mornings I had to run Michael out of the gym."
Said Fred Lynch, then assistant coach, now head coach at Laney: "More than anything, he was a sore loser. Just playing pickup games. He'd get on his teammates all the time. He hasn't changed that. What he always expected was everybody play the game as hard as he played it."
While many have played sports hard, few have ever combined such desire with skill and grace under pressure. Probably no player in the history of basketball has ever stuck so many significant shots as Jordan. Think of how many times that Jordan - literally and figuratively - has risen to the occasion.
The first time was as a North Carolina freshman against Georgetown. Legs up, wrist back, tongue out, his 17-foot jumper with 15 seconds left gave the Tar Heels the 1982 NCAA championship. "The kid doesn't even realize it yet, but he's part of history now," said Eddie Fogler, then a North Carolina assistant coach. "People will remember that shot 25 years from now."
There was his hanging, double-clutch jumper for the Bulls over the Cleveland Cavaliers' Craig Ehlo at the buzzer in a deciding 1989 playoff game. And how many times did he make the Jazz sing "Uncle?" There was Game 5 of the 1997 Finals when, ravaged by a stomach virus, Jordan crawled out of his sick bed to score 38 points, including the decisive three-pointer with 25 seconds left. And in his final contest, Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, with the Bulls down by three with 40 seconds left, he scored on a layup, stole the ball, and hit the winning jumper. How many superstars have exited on such a high?
(Of course, this is only a partial list of Jordan's clutch performances. Because the computer only has several billion bytes, we'll stop now before we fill it up.)
That final jump shot gave the Bulls their second three-peat of the nineties. If not for Jordan's decision to take more than a year and a half off beginning in 1993 and play minor league baseball for a season, it's possible the Bulls could have won eight consecutive championships.
And through all his brilliant successes, Jordan showed his human side. Even his gambling excesses on golf courses and at casinos make him appear more human. With his father James at his side in 1991, he openly cried while cradling the Larry O'Brien Trophy after the Bulls won their first championship.
ZONE POLL
Five years later, after beating the Sonics on Father's Day for the le, he again sobbed openly while laying face down on the locker room carpet. The previous time the Bulls had a won a le, in 1993, it also was on Father's Day, which was the last for James Jordan. The son had shown the country his pain when his father was murdered that summer.
Jordan was born on Feb. 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, N.Y., the fourth of five children. That spring, the family moved to Wilmington. After playing junior varsity basketball as a high school sop re, Jordan made the varsity his final two years, starring as a senior and earning a scholarship to North Carolina.
He started as a freshman, a rarity for a Dean Smith team. His shot against Georgetown boosted his confidence, and the next two seasons he was a first-team All-American. Turning pro in 1984 after his junior season when he was College Player of the Year, he was the third pick in the draft, after Akeem Olajuwon by Houston and Sam Bowie by Portland.
While the Bulls knew they were getting an outstanding player, they didn't realize how great he would become. Playing 11 full seasons, he led the league in scoring a record 10 times, and in 1986-87 became the only player besides Wilt Chamberlain to score more than 3,000 points in a season, getting 3,041. His 31.5 scoring average is the highest in NBA history and with 29,277 points he's fourth all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain and Karl Malone.
He won the regular-season MVP five times and the Finals MVP six times. In 1991 and 1992, he became the only player to win back-to-back regular season and Finals MVP awards, and in 1993 he became the first to win the Finals MVP three consecutive years, a feat he repeated from 1996-98.
On Jan. 13, 1999, Jordan, at 35, retired - again. This time, his Airness said he was at peace with his decision and that it appeared to be for good. "I know from a career standpoint I have accomplished everything that I could as an individual," he said.
Jordan is just the ticket to boost NBA attendance
The chance to see Michael Jordan play is expected to fill stadiums nationwide. The Chicago Bulls have sold out 610 consecutive games over a 13 year period with Jordan. Lower demand teams are even forced to hire additional staff when Jordan comes to town. Not only is he increasing the demand for Bulls tickets, but for the NBA as a whole. Simply put, Michael Jordan sells. With Jordan, the Washington Wizards have sold over 2,000 more season tickets from the previous year and have been included in many opponents’ ticket packages even though Washington only won 19 games last season. The chance to see Jordan play caused an enormous increase in demand which ultimately brought about an increase in price as floor seats increased from $175 to sell for $500 and up.
(Rovell, Darren. “Jordan is just the ticket to boost NBA attendance.” ESPN.com, September, 25, 2002)
An NBA makeover, bless you, ESPN
Many greats such as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing are retiring and other superstars are past their prime are causing a down period for the NBA. ESPN has now been contracted to debut NBA games, which will most likely bring the youth back to watching the sport. With ESPN publicizing NBA games, many feel the demand for the NBA will be on the rise as ESPN attracts younger viewers with its snazzy commercials and unique style. In an attempt to bring newer technology to the sport of basketball, ESPN has developed two new camera angles, the floor cam and the free flight camera. This new technology along with younger viewers will help the NBA form a trendier iden y and increase the demand for the sport.
(Fitzgerald, Toni. “An NBA makeover, bless you, ESPN.” medialifemagazine.com, Nov. 1, 2002)
Still In the Game
As the NBA ended its lockout in January of 1999, many expected the league to suffer immensely. Yet this was not the case. The lockout occurred because the owners and players greedily could not agree on how to split two billion dollars. The season was truncated to only fifty games nonetheless the leagues average attendance has only dropped 191 people since last year. If the Atlanta Hawks are tossed out of the average, who are currently playing in temporary courts until the construction of their new arena finishes, the decline in attendance disappears. Attendance, television ratings and sponsorships although expected to decline, have all increased slightly. Even teams such as the 11-24 Dallas Mavericks are seeing an increase of 23% in attendance and an increase in TV ratings.
(Alm, Richard. “Still In the Game.” Dallas Morning News, 4/10/99)
Spurs give NBA Big Boost in League’s Overall Attendance
This article discusses the overall attendance of the NBA 92-93 season to the 93-94 season. The NBA has continued to increase the demand of the game to an average attendance of 16,000, up from 15,977. Of the 27 teams in the league, 14 had increased attendance, 5 stayed the same, and 8 went down. The Spurs have continued to raise their attendance by reaching out to areas within 140 miles of San Antonio. Other teams such as the Nuggets have chosen to change their logo and introduce family deals. These two strategies have proven to increase attendance. Marketing Managers for NBA teams consider an NBA game as two and a half hours of non stop entertainment which have caused teams to give away millions of free-bie’s at games.
(Reed, Richard B. Spurs Give NBA Big Boost in League's Overall Attendance, ESPN.com, 2/16/96)
Scholarly Journals
Marketing Techniques Used by NBA Franchises to Promote Home Game Attendance
Abstract:
Marketing strategies used by NBA teams allow franchises to improve home game ticket sales. Mawson and Coan sent a Market Techniques Questionnaire to each of the 22 NBA teams to see how they rated different marketing techniques in terms of increasing home game attendance. The questionnaire contained 22 marketing techniques in which to rate. These franchises were separated into high and low attendance groups for seasonal percent capacity. Franchises with low attendance were more likely to agree that strategic planning and newspaper advertising are more effective techniques.
Extended Abstract
(Mawson, M.L; Coan, E.E. Sport marketing quarterly (Morgantown, W. Va.); Mar 1994: 3 (1). p. 37-45)
NBA Marketing Directors’ Perceptions of Effective Marketing Techniques: A Longitudinal Perspective
Abstract:
In the ten-year period between the 1988-89 season and the 1997-98 season, the NBA has undergone an increase in ticket sales, but after the 98 seasons, sales began to decline. This study done by and Sack show the marketing strategies that boost home team ticket sales. The largest increase in marketing techniques used by NBA Marketing Directors from the 88-89 to 97-98 seasons are TV and radio advertising and the promotion of star players. Techniques that have declined over this period are strategic planning, promotional giveaways, and direct mailing. and Sack also separate marketing strategies between small and large market franchises and prove that it is more effective for smaller market franchises to use TV advertising, special events, ticket packages, marketing research, open houses, and booster clubs to increase ticket sales.
Extended Abstract
( , Ronald; Sack, Allen L. “NBA Marketing Directors’ Perceptions of Effective Marketing Techniques: A Longitudinal Perspective.” International Sports Journal, Winter2003, Vol 7 Issue 1, p88, 12p, 3 charts)
Factors associated with success among NBA teams
Abstract:
This study test twenty variables to see which prove to be most significant in correlating to the winning percentage of a team. Onwuegbuzie finds that field goal conversion percentage accounts for 61.4% of the variance in winning percentages, while average three-point conversion percentage of the opposing teams explained 18.9%. These two variables combined to explain 80.3% of the total variance in winning percentage. This means that offensive presence is more superior than defensive in order to win games.
Extended Abstract
(Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J. “Factors associated with success among NBA teams.” The Sport Journal, 1998)
Stars at the Gate: The Impact of Star Power on NBA Gate Revenues
Abstract:
The NBA has the lowest compe ive balance of any North American professional sports league. This focal point of this study is to test how different variables affect gate revenue. The most significant variables were wins, championships won, All-Star votes received, stadium age and capacity, and population. The ability of NBA teams to produce wins proves most superior in increasing revenue for franchises.
Extended Abstract
(Berri, David; Schmidt, Martin B; Brook, Stacey L. “Stars at the Gate.” Journal of Sports Economics, Vol. 5 No. 1, February 2004 p.33-50)
How the do you give it to Johnny Moore but not Bowen?
We should celebrate the key players of this championship run. There's no guarantee at all it's ever going to happen again.
And no, you don't have to give it to Avery if you give it to Bowen.
Avery is more in the Malik Rose argument, which at this point is not very strong.
Yes to Bowen, Manu, and Parker. They should have their jerseys retired. To me since its a teams decision and not one made by the media, league officials, or panel of judges, it should be about what they player meant to the franchise. And not based on just stats alone.
I respect Avery's contributions and I am not an Avery hater, but they are not comparable. Avery had some massive intangibles, but on the court, calling him "average" would be generous.
Bowen is not a 20/10 guy, and he'll never be named to the All Star team, but he's been All Defense for his entire stay here. This is not a team that won by dropping 120 a night on people, it's a team that won by getting stops. And Bruce is damn near the Michael Jordan of getting stops on the perimeter. He has a gift for man defense that only a few other guys in the league can even come close to. In a perfect world, the league would recognize that gift and he would be considered for the Hall of Fame for that ability. Since the world is less than perfect, it's up to the Spurs orgsanization and fans to recognize Bruce's greatness.
I can't believe that there are Spurs fans that have watched this whole series of le runs and somehow still don't understand what Bruce means to this team. The mind boggles.
No way does Malik rose deserve his jersey retired. He was just a role player. Lets not bring him up in any future jersey retirement threads. lol
No way Malik all he did was being great in the playoffs for once and then ate our money after that..
haha
Spurs without Bruce.
Spurs with Bruce.
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