Legendary athletes whose numbers have yet to be retired

Gilmore, a Hall of Famer, was a star in the ABA with the Kentucky Colonels. Of course, the Colonels aren’t exactly around to retire his number, but Gilmore was no slouch in the NBA, either. He was twice an all-star with the Spurs, and three times with the Bulls, the more likely team to retire his number. However, while Gilmore is in Chicago’s “Ring of Honor” alongside some guys who have had their number retired, his number 53 remains available.

Maybe the vibes between the Timberwolves and Garnett are just too bad. Garnett basically made the Timberwolves a viable franchise, and he won NBA MVP there. He then pushed his way into a trade to Boston, where he won a title. Garnett did return to Minnesota to end his career, though, so things would have, presumably, been alright between player and franchise. There’s also the fact that no Timberwolves player has gotten a proper number retirement just yet. Malik Sealy’s number two was retired, but that was owing to his death when his car was hit by a drunk driver while he was a player for the franchise.

The Clippers have never retired a number, but maybe Steve Ballmer will be more open to that. Blake Griffin only just retired, and Chris Paul is still active. In terms of guys whose play certainly would merit such an honor, McAdoo is the clear choice for the Clippers. There might be a couple hang-ups, though. One, McAdoo led the NBA in scoring three times with the franchise, but back when it was known as the Buffalo Braves. He never played for the Los Angeles Clippers. Two, McAdoo did play in Los Angeles, but for the Lakers. He won two titles with the Clippers’ in-town rivals, and that might sting a bit in terms of retiring his number.

Now, the Giants have retired Bonds’ number. To us, that isn’t enough. One of the best players of all-time, controversial though he may be, should also have his number retired in Pittsburgh. Perhaps there is animosity stemming from his leaving for San Francisco. The Pirates have cover now owing to Bonds’ reputation. Bonds won two MVPs with the Pirates, not to mention three Gold Gloves. Pittsburgh should make it happen.

The Red Wings helped Fedorov defect from the Soviet Union. It’s quite the story, and all the effort paid off for player and team. One of the best skaters of his generation, Fedorov could score with the best of them. He had nine 30-goal seasons with the Red Wings, and he had 56 goals when he won the Hart as league MVP. Fedorov could also play defense, winning the Selke for best defensive forward twice. It seemed certain that Fedorov’s number 91 would be in the rafters. Then, there was a contract dispute. Fedorov turned down multiple offers from the Red Wings to sign with the Mighty Ducks for less money. Suddenly, he was the guy who got booed every time he played in Detroit, and now over a decade after his retirement Fedorov’s number has not been retired.

One more Red Wing. They are a team that has been around for a long time, and retired several numbers, after all. Zetterberg played all 15 seasons of his NHL career with the Red Wings. He won the Conn Smythe when the team won the Cup in 2008. The Swede took over as captain from Nicklas Lidstrom, who had taken over from Steve Yzerman. Granted, both Yzerman and Lidstrom were better players, all-time great even. And yet, one would have figured Zetterberg’s number 40 might be retired like theirs. Not yet.

Park played defense at the same time as Bobby Orr, which hurt his trophy case. He was the runner-up for the Norris Trophy on six occasions. However, Park was a star for the Rangers and, later, the Bruins, the team Orr had called home for many years. Maybe the problem is that Park split his career pretty evenly between the Rangers and Bruins, or that he spent his last couple seasons with the Red Wings. Whatever it was, Park is a Hall of Famer, one of the best defenseman ever, and doesn’t have his number retired anywhere.

Speaking of steroid concerns, it’s probably not encouraging for McGwire’s hopes of being honored that the Mark McGwire Highway in St. Louis was renamed the Mark Twain Highway in 2010. There’s a case to be made, based on his play on the field, for his number to be retired by the Athletics and (certainly) the Cardinals. Instead, neither has retired his numbers, and it’s likely neither franchise will.

We could have gone with any of the stars of the Phillies that played for the 2008 title team. Chase Utley is the one with the best chance at the Hall of Fame, but in 2025 Rollins became the first one on the Phillies’ Wall of Fame. Of course, the Wall of Fame does not bring with it a retired number, and this is a team that has retired numbers. Rollins was a three-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner, and once was the NL MVP. The day may come, but Rollins also may not be next in line.

The day the Lakers left Minnesota for California, Mikkelsen’s hopes may have gone out the window. George Mikan, one of the best players of the early NBA, didn’t have his number retired by the franchise until 2022. There’s talk that, while Mikan was alive, he didn’t want the honor unless his old Lakers running buddies like Mikkelsen were also honored as such. Mikkelsen, a Hall of Famer, played a decade for the Minneapolis Lakers, winning four titles and making six All-Star Games. The Lakers have “honored” his number, but it is not retired. (Mikkelsen is number 15 in this photo)

The Canucks have retired Bure’s number. Bure may have only played two full seasons with the Panthers, but we think there is a case for the relatively-young franchise to retire his number there as well. In his two full seasons he scored 58 and 59 goals, both of which led the league. Bure was one of the most-exciting, most-dynamic players in Panthers history. Maybe the franchise is waiting to honor some of the guys who helped the team win the Cup, though. They have more options now than they did even two seasons ago.

Johnson’s number is going to be retired by the Mariners. It just won’t be in his honor. Ichiro Suzuki wore 51, like Johnson, but at the time Johnson was still an active pitcher. Also, Ichiro was a superstar who had worn 51 his entire time in Japan. It seemed fair. Now, what would be fair is to retire the number 51 for both Ichiro and “The Big Unit.” Johnson only won one of his Cy Youngs with the Mariners, but when one of the handful of the best pitchers in MLB history spends a decade with your club, it makes sense to retire his number. Wisely, the Diamondbacks did just that.

The Predators broke the seal on retiring numbers with Pekka Rinne. That’s a fair first name to want to honor. There are some guys who will surely get their numbers retired eventually, such as Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg. Weber needs to be next, though. He spent the first 11 seasons of his career blasting his blistering slap shot for the Predators, and for six seasons he served as captain. Weber was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024, which is funny because his contract was still getting around the NHL to take up cap space as recently as 2025.

If the Magic can bury the hatchet with Shaq in order to retire his number, they can retire McGrady’s number. Issues with the franchise’s direction led to McGrady being dealt to Houston, where he spent more time than he spent with Orlando. However, with the Magic he was a star. McGrady led the NBA in scoring twice and averaged over 30 points per game in the playoffs for the franchise. It’s time for T-Mac to get some love in Orlando.

There are a few franchises in the NFL that don’t retire numbers. It’s a “thing” for them. Among those are two storied franchises, the Cowboys and the Raiders. They honor players, sure, but they don’t retire numbers. You may be Emmitt Smith. You may be Tim Brown. Your number isn’t getting retired.

If the Pro Football Hall of Fame can overlook the brevity of Davis’ career, the Broncos can surely do that as well. Granted, the franchise has only retired three numbers, but they’ve done it, so why not do it again? Davis has an MVP and a Super Bowl MVP with the Broncos. He ran for over 2,000 yards with the franchise once. The most-obvious number for the Broncos to retire is Davis’.

It seems like the Jaguars may be paving the way to retiring a few numbers. Nobody has worn Mark Brunell’s number eight, Jimmy Smith’s number 82, or Taylor’s number 28 since they left the team. However, Tony Boselli’s number 71 was retired in 2022, so a precedent has been set. Taylor would make the most sense as the next guy. The running back had seven 1,000-yard seasons for the Jaguars, and while Maurice Jones-Drew ended up with more touchdowns, Taylor is the franchise’s leading rusher by over 3,000 yards.

Both Minnesota and New England need to get on retiring Moss’ number. Sure, he wasn’t the easiest personality to deal with. The guy knew how to burn a bridge as a player. However, Moss has a legitimate claim to being the second-best receiver in NFL history, and he was incredible for both franchises. Plus, in terms of letting bygones be bygones, Moss had to deal with cancer in 2024. Don’t drag your feet on retiring his number.

If we were to tell you that the Steelers haven’t retired Bradshaw’s number, you might assume they don’t retire numbers. That’s not the case! It’s true that the Steelers didn’t retire a number for 50 years, but then in 2014 retired Joe Greene’s number. That was followed by Franco Harris in 2022. Granted, those are deserving names, and clearly the Steelers have been going about it slowly. Still, that means there are several names, Bradshaw’s included, well-worth the honor.

Had Carmelo stayed in Denver, the Nuggets would have likely retired his number already. Now, it belongs to Nikola Jokic. Had he stayed in New York after that, maybe the Knicks would have retired his number. The issue is the fact he ended his career with five seasons spanning across four teams. Eventually, the Nuggets will likely retire the #15 for Jokic, but perhaps the Knicks will eventually come around. 

The nebulous nature of the Charlotte Hornets leads to questions about number retirement. Yes, these Hornets do consider all of Charlotte’s history to be theirs, but this version of the Hornets came from the Charlotte Bobcats, the expansion team that was birthed after the original Hornets left for New Orleans. So, perhaps, Kemba Walker would be the guy to go with as a first retired number, as opposed to the franchise’s first star Larry Johnson.

Wilkens is in the Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and a coach. In terms of having his number retired, though, he’s done in by bad luck on a couple fronts. Both times it involves franchises moving. Wilkens began his career as a star for the St. Louis Hawks, but the Atlanta Hawks have not retired his number. However, one franchise did retire Wilkens’ number…the Seattle SuperSonics. Unfortunately for Wilkens, when the Sonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder, his number’s retirement did not carry over.

It may take some time for Posey’s number to get retired, though it will happen in San Francisco. Posey retired in 2021, so he isn’t even in the Hall of Fame yet. That’s not a given, but it does feel likely. What may keep Posey from having his number retired by the Giants soon, though, is that he is now the franchise’s president of baseball operations. It might look odd if the guy running the front office has his number retired.

Maybe Carter should have elected for a Mets hat on his Hall of Fame plaque instead of an Expos hat? It’s not like the Expos are around to honor him by retiring his number. Although, the Montreal Canadiens do have Carter’s number hanging in the rafters with a few other Expos, which is cool. It’s not like the Mets are doing Carter dirty. He’s in the franchise’s Hall of Fame and they haven’t handed out his number since 2003. Sadly, Carter died in 2012 at the age of 57. He may not be around to enjoy the event, but the Mets should just codify retiring Carter’s number.

The Capitals have not retired a number since 2008. Of course, the day that Alex Ovechkin retires the franchise will start lining up when to retire his number eight. Kolzig is a netminder who should have his number retired, though. “Ollie the Goalie,” surely the best hockey player ever both in South Africa, was a wall for the Capitals for 20 years. He was in net for over 300 wins for the franchise. Kolzig is the perfect example for the kind of guy who should get his number retired, but hasn’t. He’s not an all-time great, but he’s a franchise legend. Having his number retired is the highest honor Kolzig is likely to get. Maybe it will happen someday.