Re: Numbers sure seem to count

["Dan Forant" <dforant1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Screw Malone and #32. He can paint it on his car, his butt, an earring, his
tombstone, BUT NOT AS A CELTIC. These guys are real characters.

DanF

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "celtics list" <celtics@xxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 8:03 AM
Subject: Numbers sure seem to count


> Numbers sure seem to count
>
>
> By Jackie MacMullan, Globe Columnist, 7/31/2003
>
>
> When Celtics boss Danny Ainge was courting free agent forward Karl Malone,
he
> offered him good money, tried to sell him on the storied Celtics
tradition,
> and stressed that Boston could be a great fit for him.
>
>
>
>
> Malone listened carefully, then asked only one question.
>
>
>
> "He wanted to know if No. 32 was retired," Ainge said. "I reminded him
[Kevin]
> McHale wore that number. He said, `Oh. How do you think he'd feel about me
> wearing it?' "
>
>
>
> Malone, who wore No. 32 his entire career with the Utah Jazz, ended up
signing
> with the Lakers. Before he did, he talked with Magic Johnson about wearing
his
> retired No. 32 Lakers jersey. That won't happen. Although Magic publicly
> offered the number to him (what else is he supposed to do?), Malone will
wear
> No. 11, his number when he played for the Dream Team in the 1992 Olympics
in
> Barcelona.
>
>
>
> The number on a uniform may seem trivial, but it is often one of the most
> important details to athletes embarking on an NBA career, or players in
their
> prime, mulling over a move to a new team.
>
>
>
> "It's a recruiting tool," Ainge said. "And we're at a big disadvantage."
>
>
>
> No kidding. Imagine the Celtics' pitch: We love you, we want you, you can
have
> any number you want -- except 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21,
22,
> 23, 24, 25, 32, 33, 35, or 00. That's 20 jerseys -- and counting. Former
> Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell's No. 31 will be raised next.
>
>
>
> "Athletes are superstitious," Ainge explained. "Numbers mean a lot. LeBron
> James has worn No. 23 his entire life, in honor of his idol, Michael
Jordan.
> He's going to get to wear No. 23 in Cleveland, but if that number was
retired,
> they might have had a problem."
>
>
>
> Consider this purely hypothetical situation. Suppose free agent Tim Duncan
> agreed to sign with Boston, but stipulated he must wear No. 21, the number
he
> wore for his two NBA championships with the Spurs. What should Ainge do?
Ask
> Bill Sharman to relinquish his number? Pay him off? Tell Duncan to forget
it?
>
>
>
> Ainge said he has considered asking the Celtic greats how they felt about
> "unretiring" some of the numbers, if it would help land coveted free
agents.
>
>
>
> "Obviously we'd have to approach it the right way," he said. "I would
think
> that past players would want to see the current Celtics teams succeed and
> might be willing to help.
>
>
>
> "But I wouldn't even consider doing something like that without talking
first
> to Larry [Bird] or Bill Russell, or Bob Cousy, or [John] Havlicek, or Red
> [Auerbach]. If they said it was a stupid idea, then I'd just drop it."
>
>
>
> Auerbach, who was honored with the retirement of No. 2 for his coaching
and
> general manager talents, quickly squashed the notion yesterday.
>
>
>
> "You can do whatever the hell you want," said Auerbach, "but I think it's
a
> lousy idea. All these guys who have given you an illustrious career, and
you
> retire their number, and then a couple years later, you forget about
them?"
>
>
>
> Cousy disagrees with his former coach.
>
>
>
> "I don't live in yesterday," said Cousy. "If giving them my number helps
them
> get a hell of player, then fine. Make his 14A."
>
>
>
> McHale claims he doesn't have any particular attachment to No. 32, and
would
> be willing to let another Boston player wear it.
>
>
>
> "If it would help the Celtics, and it would help Danny, then it wouldn't
> bother me," McHale said yesterday from his Minnesota Timberwolves offices.
> "It's not like I'm wearing it. It was a great honor to have it retired,
but if
> it helps Danny, I'd do it. Now, if it was the previous management asking,
I
> probably wouldn't."
>
>
>
> McHale wore two numbers for Hibbing (Minn.) High School -- No. 41 at home,
No.
> 40 on the road.
>
>
>
> "I never did get an explanation why we did that," he mused.
>
>
>
> He wore No. 44 at the University of Minnesota, and would have liked the
same
> number in Boston, but Pete Maravich was wearing it at the time. McHale
> arbitrarily picked No. 32. Maravich ended up retiring before McHale ever
> played a game, and even though the Celtics had printed up all of their
> material with McHale as No. 32, the team offered to redo everything with
No.
> 44.
>
>
>
> "I told them, `Nah, forget it,' " McHale said. "I was just so excited to
play,
> I didn't care what number I had."
>
>
>
> Don Nelson felt same way. He signed with the Celtics in 1965 as a free
agent
> and spent the remainder of his career (11 seasons) in Boston. In that
time,
> Boston won three championships, and Nellie's No. 19 was hoisted to the
> rafters.
>
>
>
> "You don't have enough money to unretire my number," Nelson said
yesterday.
> "It's the only thing I've got. I was part of a number of team records
during
> my time with the Celtics, but retiring my number is one of the very few
> individual honors I possess.
>
>
>
> "It means a lot me. How many guys like me, an ordinary Joe, get their
numbers
> retired by the Boston Celtics?"
>
>
>
> Therein lies the problem. During their championship runs in the '60s,
Boston
> handed out retired jerseys to many of its favorite sons and, in
retrospect,
> probably didn't use enough discretion. Conversely, the Lakers have retired
> only seven jerseys: No. 13 (Wilt Chamberlain), No. 22 (Elgin Baylor), No.
25
> (Gail Goodrich), No. 32 (Magic Johnson), No. 33 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), No.
42
> (James Worthy), and No. 44 (Jerry West).
>
>
>
> Dennis Johnson said the retirement of his No. 3 with the Celtics was "one
of
> the greatest honors of my life."
>
>
>
> "But my feeling is, even if they gave No. 3 to someone else, it would
still be
> retired for me," said DJ. "It's kind of like someone asking to borrow your
> bicycle. You lend it to them, but it's still your bike.
>
>
>
> "I hate to compare it in those terms, because the number means so very
much to
> me."
>
>
>
> Johnson said he chose No. 3 when he came to Celtics because at the time
there
> were three people in his family. "Also," he said, "it was my third team,
and I
> was determined to make it my last team. It was a very personal number for
> me."
>
>
>
> Ainge understands the emotional attachments to numbers. When he came to
> Boston, he desperately wanted No. 22, the number he wore in college.
Ainge's
> childhood hero was "Bullet" Bob Hayes, the wide receiver for the Dallas
> Cowboys who wore No. 22, and ran the 100-yard dash in the Olympics.
>
>
>
> "I played football and ran track growing up in Eugene [Ore.]," Ainge said.
"I
> really wanted that number. But `Easy' Ed Macauley had already retired it."
>
>
>
> You can't blame Ainge for being creative and trying to sweeten the appeal
of
> his ball club. But there's something sacrilegious about the idea of
someone
> else wearing Russell's No. 6 or Bird's No. 33.
>
>
>
> And, for that matter, McHale's No. 32. Really now. What has Karl Malone
won,
> anyway?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
> sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx