The highest recognition that surpasses any award an NBA player can receive from his team after his career is over comes when the number he wore on his jersey is finally retired. This means that no other player on that team will wear a jersey with a similar number. It is done out of respect, honor, and a way of thanking you for the exceptional service you provided to the team.

As a player gains popularity, so does the number he uses. The player and the number symbolically become one. The number acts as the player’s face when his back is to the crowd. NBA commentators often use numbers as a way to remind certain players during their comments. The closest a fan will get to enjoying the company of their favorite player is when they are wearing their replica jerseys.

In fact, many NBA numbers have been retired, the most notable of which belong to the Boston Celtics and La Lakers. Among all the retired numbers, the one worn by Michael Jordan, number 23, is surely the largest of all. No other player in any competitive sport has a higher sense of ownership of his number than the way No. 23 was and still is attached to Jordan.

When Jordan retired, the NBA came under a lot of pressure to retire the number 23 and prevent other teams from using it. Unfortunately, the day they can’t do anything because they lack control in the way teams assign numbers to their players. The number belongs to the team, when a player leaves or retires, the team decides what to do with it.

LeBron James recently rekindled this issue by publicly announcing that he will be switching from No. 23 to No. 6 as a way to show respect and honor Jordan. Now he’s asking other teams to retire that number. Some people see this as a way he’s trying to avoid saying which team he’ll play for next season once his contract with the Cavaliers ends.

The decision to withdraw that number is up to the NBA teams to do so. The Miami Heat did it without even getting pushed. The simple fact is, any player who dons a jersey with the number 23 on it will have to be ready to be compared to Jordan.

After so much speculation about who can replace Jordan, the list is shortlisted from time to time, reality has realized that no one will be able to replace him. LeBron once dubbed the next Jordan knows this better than anyone and that’s probably why he’s opting for the number 6. Whatever his reason, he has all the unquestionable potential to make a number six legend.