Most problems are classified as bad problems. If there was ever a good problem to have, it’s that the Boston Celtics are running out of numbers. The Celtics have, wait for it, 23 retired numbers in the team’s 73 year history. That’s too many. Maybe I sound like an asshole but I’m tired of watching the Celtics play and all of the players have goofy numbers. It needs to change. The Celtics have too many numbers retired and it’s time to bring them back.
I’m not saying that you unretire all of them. This is the Boston Celtics. This is a franchise with 17 championships. They should unretire the numbers of players that were not part of championship teams. Jim Loscutoff asked his jersey not be retired so somebody else could wear it. Other legends should follow suit. Larry Bird, Red Auerbach, and Bill Russell can keep their numbers. I get those. Still, let’s bring some of these numbers back. Keep them in the rafters. That’s fine. We just need to let the players wear some of them for crying out loud. Are we going to retire Kemba Walker’s number when they win a title? What about Marcus Smart? Hey, maybe Carsen Edwards gets his number up there too. What are we doing here?
Hell, why not be creative about it. Bring some of the numbers back and put their name in the jersey somewhere. Recognize, hey, we know that Satch Sanders was a great Celtic. We put his name in the jersey somewhere and let someone rock 16. The Celtics more jerseys retired than any other team in the NBA by a mile. What are they going to do if they win more titles? We’re going to have starters rocking 78 for no reason. Let’s bring back some numbers and honor the legends in another way. It’s time for the Celtics to unretire some numbers.
