Eight Crimes
In Praise of a Number Unretired.
by Russ Bengtson
In the course of NBA history, many uniform numbers have been retired. The Boston Celtics alone have retired so many that there is real danger of them having to switch to triple digits or Roman numerals before long. Yet, in the entire storied history of the L, not a single franchise has retired the number 8.
It’s strange, really. Eight doesn’t have the reputation of being an unlucky number, like 13 (which, by the way, has been retired by the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers, the New Orleans Hornets, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs—admittedly in half of those cases for Wilt Chamberlain). Yet eight has long been a number of NBA journeymen and never-will-bes. Kobe Bryant, perhaps the best to ever wear ocho, chose it not because of a childhood hero (regardless of those Mike D’Antoni stories), but because it was the sum of the digits of his first adidas ABCD Camp number—143. Eight has a rich history in other sports. It’s been worn by baseball Hall of Famers Yogi Berra, Carl Yastrzemski and Cal Ripken as well as Super Bowl champion quarterback Steve Young. And a quick check of Wikipedia reveals only reasons TO wear eight:
In tarot, card No. 8 is “Strength
Eight is considered a lucky number in Asian culture because it sounds like the word “prosper” or “wealth”
“#8″ is the stagename of Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor
The Golden Age of NBA Eights was the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, when All-Star games featured Bryant, Antoine Walker, Steve Smith and Latrell Sprewell. Now Kobe and Antoine both wear 24, Smitty is retired, and Spree is well on his way to donning No. 111097840. But it seems that eight has finally been accepted by the masses. A full baker’s dozen guys wear it today, including up-and-coming stars Deron Williams, Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis.
I suppose it’s just coincidence that eight has such an undistinguished NBA history. After all, there are plenty of other numbers that have yet to be retired by any NBA teams—although those are mostly little-used ones like 26 and 73 and 3,702. But eight is the only single-digit number that has yet to be hung from any team’s rafters. That should change in a decade or so, after Kobe Bryant retires and his jersey joins those of Magic and Kareem, West and Baylor, Chamberlain and O’Neal.
About time.
36 Responses to “Eight Crimes”
Feb.13 at 3:12 pm
white hot eboy says:
Who would have known this? Good work, Russ. I would prefer to see Toine’s 8 be retired by a frequented McDonalds but, that’s not realistc. I wonder if Kobe get’s 8 or 24 in the rafters once he’s done.
Feb.13 at 3:14 pm
Kadavour says:
this article about a frikkin number reminds of that Jim Carey movie about the #23, but 23 has such significance in the NBA that i felt stupid for drawing that parallel.
Feb.13 at 3:16 pm
Cheryl says:
Bored, Russ?
Feb.13 at 3:17 pm
Cheryl says:
BTW, I’m stalking Eboy…
Feb.13 at 3:17 pm
Myles Brown says:
Wouldnt he want them to retire 24?
Feb.13 at 3:17 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
As of right now, it’s gotta be 8 that hangs in the Staples. The team decides what number to retire, right? And right now the Lakers hanging 24 would make about as much sense as the Bulls retiring the 4-5. I guess we need to wait a couple of years, but as far as I’m concerned, 8 gets retired no matter what. Kobe could easily be the first player in NBA history to have two different numbers retired by the same team.
Feb.13 at 3:18 pm
TADOne says:
Russ must be running out of sh*t to talk about.
Feb.13 at 3:18 pm
white hot eboy says:
I see that and I like it. I need to catch a game with you, my dear. Then I can stalk you in person!!!!
Feb.13 at 3:24 pm
white hot eboy says:
I think if Kobe leads the Lakers to another threepeat the 24 retirement becomes a real conversation.
Feb.13 at 3:27 pm
says says:
has a bull worn 45 since €?
Feb.13 at 3:28 pm
Cheryl says:
We should. I’ll see if I’ve got any weekend games coming up and let you know. The Presidentes are on you…
Feb.13 at 3:29 pm
Ken says:
I often wonder about what unretired jersey has been worn by the most good players. Like #32 in Phoenix for example (Kidd, Amare, Shaq) or #1 in Orlando (Penny, T-Mac…uh, Ariza?). Other candidates?
Feb.13 at 3:33 pm
white hot eboy says:
Let me know. Presidentes for you for sure. Me, I need to concentrate my disqust at Pat and Ricky.
Feb.13 at 3:33 pm
Captain America says:
Spree just might get No. 111097840 hanging on the rafters.
Feb.13 at 3:34 pm
Bigi says:
First Shaq said he hasn’t had a easy bucket in six years and now Nash says he hasn’t played with a post player before…Weird times!
Feb.13 at 3:35 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
TAD: Actually, I find the number stuff pretty intriguing. Besides, beats talking about Shaq.
Feb.13 at 3:36 pm
TADOne says:
At least Nash’s comment is true, unless you are counting Dampier.
Feb.13 at 3:37 pm
TADOne says:
Funny thing is Russ, I’ve been looking into it every since you posted this. We are f*cking nerds!
Feb.13 at 3:47 pm
riggs says:
and Spree is well on his way to donning No. 111097840—-haha
Feb.13 at 4:30 pm
Allenp says:
Amare isn’t a post player?
Feb.13 at 4:36 pm
jbn74sb says:
I am thinking that as the Lakers improve, and hopefully challenge for the title, Kobe will change back to 8. Sure would generate a lot of pub.
Feb.13 at 5:49 pm
Mike says:
Who gives a f***?
Feb.13 at 5:57 pm
Mike says:
The sad part is that you get paid for writing s**t like this
Feb.13 at 6:01 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Actually, the sad part is that I don’t. Thanks for the constructive criticism, though. Always appreciated.
Feb.13 at 6:28 pm
Paps says:
The NBA should have stopped anyone else from wearing #23. Just like the NHL will not let players wear #99. It really bugs me to see guys wearing that number and I don’t care how good Lebron becomes it will always be associated with Jordan.
Feb.13 at 6:38 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Big can of worms, that. Because then the L would need to retire 6 for Russell and 13 for Chamberlain and 32 for Magic and 33 for Bird and Kareem and so on and so on.
Feb.13 at 6:44 pm
Keith says:
At what stage dyou think the NBA might change the NBA logo to Michael Jordan?
Feb.13 at 6:47 pm
Paps says:
True. But I think the number 23 is bigger than those guys. There’s legends in hockey too but only 99 is untouchable.
Feb.13 at 7:12 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
The only League-wide number retirement I agree with is Jackie Robinson’s, and I only partially agree with that one. I think players should be able to pay tribute to their heroes by wearing their numbers. What’s a better tribute? A great current player wearing a significant number from the past, or a banner hung from the rafters or a wall. I like the way UNC does it–hang banners for players, but keep all numbers available. With apologies to Aaliyah, a number ain’t nothin’ but a number.
Feb.13 at 7:29 pm
Paps says:
Is it a tribute? Maybe. T-Mac has said he choose 1 because of Penny and I thought that was cool, he was a kid watching him play and picked 1 because of it. But I can’t get pass guys wearing #23.
Feb.13 at 7:30 pm
Dacre says:
It’s being well supported and documented - a measure of both sound reasoning and level headed planning: Retiring a players JERSEY is wonderful - It’s really not about JUST THE NUMBER…but the NAME on the jersey also. I think ALL NUMBERS should be free to be used through each and every era… An adjustment is needed definitely - Retire a players JERSEY… not just a number.
Feb.13 at 7:45 pm
Paps says:
You’re right. It’s the name more and the number second. Will Camby be remembered as #23 or will he be remembered as a great defensive player from UMASS. Of course it’s the second.
Feb.13 at 11:47 pm
tealish says:
This piece has got me wondering again about why doesn’t the NBA retire #23 league-wide, like the NHL does for Gretzky.. Both are the undisputed GOATs in their respective sport. Because really, not even LeBron deserves to be rocking the 23.
Feb.13 at 11:48 pm
tealish says:
CAMBY, NO LESS.
Feb.14 at 1:30 am
Russ Bengtson says:
I’ll say it again: NO. Besides, four teams have already retired 23 for players NOT named Jordan (Atlanta, Boston, Houston and New Jersey). Would they have to add Jordan’s name to the banners? If ANY player deserves to have his number retired League-wide it’s Bill Russell, and I don’t even think he would want that.
Feb.14 at 1:32 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Number retirement is such a selfish American thing anyway. One of the coolest things about football (soccer) is the long, distinguished list of strikers who have worn No. 10 and No. 9.