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“No player should wear the no.23 because of Michael Jordan!”: When LeBron James wanted the NBA to hang up the two-three in honor of the Bulls legend

Jeet Pukhrambam
Published

LeBron James has always been a fan of Michael Jordan, he even copied his jersey number! But at one point, he wanted the NBA to retire no.23!

LeBron James has always been a fan of Michael Jordan, he even copied his jersey number! But at one point, he wanted the NBA to retire no.23!

LeBron James and Michael Jordan the comparisons will go on forever. Both athletes have built a legacy unlike any other and it is hard to fathom if anyone else can ever match that.

Perhaps the biggest thing to remember here is how much respect the two have for each other. Jordan is LeBron’s idol. He has always admired him and has always called him the one person he looks up to the most.

He even cried when he passed his idol in the scoring charts. Tears of joy and sorrow, we think.

His famous no.23 is also inspired by MJ who also wore the number. In fact, LeBron loved his idol so much that he even once asked the NBA to retire the number!

Also read: “In honor of Michael Jordan and his greatness, we are hanging #23 in the rafters”: When the Heat retired the GOAT’s jersey even though he never played for Miami

LeBron James asks for the NBA to retire the no.23 after deciding to switch to no.6 himself!

In 2009, while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron decided that he would switch his jersey no. to 6. He wanted to do this to honor MJ.

More than that, he also wanted the league to retire the number. LeBron felt that MJ had an impact on the game that no one else could possibly have.

He wanted the league to honor him in the highest way possible, by making sure that no one else could wear the no.23.

Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out in a way that LeBron would have liked. The league did not retire his number. LeBron too eventually came back to wearing the 23.

However, it is good to know that James holds Jordan in such high esteem that he is willing to not wear his beloved number. LeBron has been wearing no.6 since the start of this season.

Also read: “Malika Andrews don’t disrespect Kobe Bryant and his Lakers!”: When the ESPN reporter drew ridiculous parallels to LeBron James’ squad and the Mamba’s

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam

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Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

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