Carmelo Anthony should have his number retired… but not for his game
Carmelo Anthony deserves to have his number retired, but perhaps not for why you'd think.
Seven is a number that pops up over and over in the history of the New York Knicks. The Knicks just completed their 77th season. Their seventh season marked the end of three straight trips to the Finals, their first golden age. After seven years missing the playoffs, they returned in 1967, winning their only two titles over the next seven seasons. Their last title team included seven of the nine Knicks to have their numbers retired.
It’s not a perfect split, but you can roughly separate Knicks history in two: before and after the championship teams. 25 years into their history, eight of the nine Knicks who’ve had their number retired had already stamped their place in the rafters: Red Holzman, Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, Earl Monroe, Dick McGuire, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley and Dave DeBusschere. 50 years since, only Patrick Ewing has received the honor. Why?
Those whose blood runs blue and orange try to paint the distinction as a point of pride. This isn’t some mom-and-pop organization that treats the rafters like a refrigerator door for whatever dreck your kid just drew. This is MSG, son. Even when we’re lacking in success, our standards never slip. We canonize champs and G.O.A.T.s. Whenever the Knicks find their way back to the promised land in the Canyon of Heroes, they’ll be led by legends, players who’ll have truly earned immortality.
Look a little closer at the pantheon and you’ll note something amiss, an inconsistency. Why is McGuire’s number retired? I mean, yeah, he had an incredible career. Five All-Star selections. All-NBA in 1951. Led the league in assists as a rookie. A few years after retiring, he became the Knicks’ eighth head coach.
Still: Richie Guerin and Carl Braun were the more celebrated players. Guerin made six All-Star teams and Braun five, with both twice named All-NBA (Braun broke in with the Knicks in 1947, before the NBA existed, and was thus All-BAA). Yet neither’s had their number retired. Why? It can’t be the cumulative player/coach career – McGuire was only in charge for three years. By the time he was replaced with Holzman, he ranked fourth in wins out of eight Knick head coaches, his 42% winning percentage equal to Mike D’Antoni’s. None of that screams “Fête me!” So what gives?
What always gives? If the answer to 99 answers out of 100 questions is “money,” the 100th is “context.” Money and context explain why McGuire’s jersey is in the rafters. They also make clear Carmelo Anthony’s belongs there someday.
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