Retire The Jerseys of the 3 Amigos?

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I believe Michael Jordan was fined heavily for switching from 45 to 23 in the middle of the game because 23 was retired.

WRONG

Part Jordan's return contract was that the Bulls had to pay to bring the number out of retirement..

[Tribby]

WRONG

Part Jordan's return contract was that the Bulls had to pay to bring the number out of retirement..

Hate to get into an off-topic who's right-who's wrong war, but the way I remember it, Jordan was fined because it's against NBA rules to switch numbers midseason. He wore 45 for several games, don't forget. The fact that 23 was retired had nothing to do with it.

But back to the original question. I personally find the whole "we retire jerseys, not numbers" thing to be silly. "Retiring" a jersey is a completely meaningless act; what does that actually mean? When Jerel McNeal leaves Marquette, of course nobody is ever going to wear MCNEAL 22 again (unless, I suppose, another kid named McNeal plays for Marquette and wants to wear 22). Retiring a number, on the other hand, has far greater symbolic meaning.

I get that there's a finite number of, er, numbers. That doesn't mean you don't retire numbers, it just means you be far more judicious than we have been in choosing numbers to retire.