Kobe died in helicopter crash

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

It's possible for Dirk, Marion, Cuban, etc to all make a silly decision when grieving.. Perhaps he should have consulted the Mavs CEO...

It’s a symbolic gesture to one of the all-time greats to ever play the sport, but it’s not like they’re putting an alleged rapist into the White House or something. They’re just retiring a number, which is 100% about what he did on the court, not off.

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by Underdog

It’s a symbolic gesture to one of the all-time greats to ever play the sport, but it’s not like they’re putting an alleged rapist into the White House or something. They’re just retiring a number, which is 100% about what he did on the court, not off.

Then why not retire Jordan’s number? Wilt? Bird, Magic? If it’s about what they did on the court, you should just retire the number of all the top 20 players all time. Kobe didn’t die on the court. He died off the court. It is about what they did on the court and not off isn’t it?

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Then why not retire Jordan’s number? Wilt? Bird, Magic? If it’s about what they did on the court, you should just retire the number of all the top 20 players all time. Kobe didn’t die on the court. He died off the court. It is about what they did on the court and not off isn’t it?

Because he died... I don't disagree with you that this was an emotional reaction, but I do believe this was more of a gesture toward Kobe's family and the NBA fraternity than anything else. It's not like it hurts or changes anything, but Cuban probably believes that this was the "most good" he could do, honoring one of the game's best in the wake of a tragedy.

Now if you want to talk about making him the NBA logo, then I would agree that it's a bit of an overreaction... But people get emotional about these things, so I'm not going to fault anyone for that.