On Thursday, the NBA announced that it was retiring the No. 6 league-wide moving forward to honor Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell, who passed away a couple of weeks ago. That decision could impact the number that LeBron James wears moving forward.
James currently wears No. 6 for the Los Angeles Lakers and has shifted back and forth between No. 23 and No. 6 for his entire NBA career. Many have speculated that James switched away from No. 23 in order to cement his own legacy separate from Michael Jordan, who made that number iconic.
But there’s also the fact that Russell, who won 11 NBA championships, five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, 12 NBA All-Star selections, and 11 All-NBA Team honors, also made No. 6 iconic before James.
Players who currently wear No. 6 – such as Lakers‘ LeBron James – will be grandfathered. https://t.co/bhNSldVKz0
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 11, 2022
As part of their announcement, the NBA said that “players who currently wear No. 6 will be grandfathered,” so if James wants to continue wearing No. 6, he certainly can. However, given the reverence he and other NBA stars have for Russell, you have to wonder if LeBron will want to change his number out of deference and in order to separate himself once again from comparison to an NBA legend who came before him.
One thing that is true no matter what LeBron decides is that he is the last Lakers player to ever wear No. 6.
LeBron James will be the last Lakers player to ever wear No. 6. pic.twitter.com/ordIvDWBBO
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 11, 2022
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.