Shaquille O’Neal expressed his thoughts on jersey retirements across the league during this week’s latest episode of The Big Podcast.
The Hall of Famer, whose No. 32 jersey was retired by the Miami Heat in 2016, said he disapproved of the organization retiring Michael Jordan’s No. 23 and Bill Russell’s No. 6 because neither had Played for the team.
“I hate it when they hang up other people’s jerseys,” O’Neal said. “I hope I didn’t disrespect anyone with that word.
“This thing is ours. This is what we built. Michael Jordan never played for the Heat. Bill Russell never played for the Heat. You and your little Celtics family and your Chicago family did Your own thing. But this Miami thing? I’m one of the original championship families…it’s our thing. So I personally don’t like that.
The Heat are the only team besides the Bulls to have Jordan wearing No. 23. As for Russell, the NBA retired his number following his death in 2022.
O’Neill’s point makes sense. Territoriality is justified when you give everything you have to an organization and its fans.
My unsolicited opinion about jersey retirements in general is that we do too much. I agree with O’Neal, Jordan’s jersey doesn’t need to hang in any city other than Chicago. As for team-specific jerseys, I’m all for raising a flag to honor the contributions of a great player in your organization, but unless it’s a special case (i.e. Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Bill Russell), then It is unwise to retire a number forever. ridiculous.
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