A look at retired numbers in the NBA

Less than 24 hours after Shaq tweeted his intentions to retire, one of his former teams announced a retirement of another kind. The Lakers said that they will retire Shaq’s #34 jersey, and #34 will join #13, #22, #25, #32, #33, #42, and #44 in the Staples Center rafters. (Bonus points if you can name the Lakers player who wore each of those numbers.*) Retiring numbers is by no means limited to the NBA, but the ritual is especially meaningful in basketball because a) an individual player can have a bigger impact on his franchise in basketball than in any other team sport, and b) basketball arenas are ideal for hanging banners. When you peruse the banners hanging from rafters around the league, you discover all sorts of interesting things. Interesting Facts about Retired Numbers in the NBA The Boston Celtics have retired 21 numbers, the most of any franchise. Jim Loscutoff, who won 7 titles with the Celtics in the 1950s and 1960s, elected not to have his #18 taken out of ...