5 NBA Retired Players' Jerseys That Are Now Uber-Ironic

In the NBA, retiring someone's number is the ultimate way for a team to show gratitude. It's a time for teams to recognize their greatest players, even if they aren't necessarily "Hall of Fame" caliber players, as the San Antonio Spurs are doing with Bruce Bowen later this month.

Teams retire jerseys for a number of reasons, whether it be a head coach, a great player, an announcer or just a player who became a fan favorite and dedicated his life to the franchise.

It's a moment for the walls to be torn down and a time for players, ownership and fans to celebrate one player collectively. It's a real moment.

However, there are some numbers out there that are retired that just make me giggle a bit to myself. Numbers that, upon further review, should either be rethought or just eliminated altogether.

These numbers aren't like the Heat retiring Michael Jordan's number or the Magic retiring No. 6 in honor of their fans; it's just strange choices and retired numbers that, over the years, just made less and less sense.

5. Julius Erving's 32 in New Jersey

Dr. J was the most integral part of the New York Nets when they were one of the top draws of the ABA. That's not something anyone's ever going to dispute.

However, once the Nets came into the NBA, eventually moving over to New Jersey, the Nets had to pay a territorial encroachment fee to the Knicks, along with a league entry fee. With all of those dollars adding up and the fact that they were a burgeoning NBA team in the '70s made the Nets realize what they had to do.

New Jersey ended up selling their key player, Julius Erving, for $3 million to the Philadelphia 76ers in order to cover their invasion fee.

Sure, Dr. J did a lot for the Nets in the ABA and his jersey should be retired, but seeing it hanging up in New Jersey now is just a cruel reminder of what could have been in the early years.

4. Charles Barkley in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia 76ers were pretty stoked to have a player with the skill at the level of Charles Barkley. In the long history of sports in Philadelphia, nary a soul was as polarizing as Charles Barkley, and we're talking about the city that has employed both Michael Vick and Allen Iverson.

Some people loved Chuck, but near the end of his tenure with the 76ers, those people were few and far between.

During his time with the 76ers, Chuck had his own shoe line, fought with opposing players, constantly drew fines, played hard, got fat and he spit on a little girl (by accident of course).

With such a tumultuous time in Philly, it's interesting that the city would be ready to honor him after everything they went through.

3. Clyde Lovellette's No. 34 Jersey

There once was a day in Minneapolis when the Lakers were a team whose name made sense as they were transitioning from the George Mikan era into the Clyde Lovellette era.

These days, however, now that the Lakers are chilling in Los Angeles (and have been for upwards of 50 years), nobody associates that No. 34 with Lovellette, a tall, skinny white dude from Indiana. Instead, it's harkened more to the glory days of a rather wide man who has called everywhere from New Jersey to Texas, Louisiana, California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio and Massachusetts home.

While Lovellette's No. 34 isn't technically retired, it does hang in the rafters in the Staples Center, and it's going to look a bit strange when Shaq's No. 34 is hanging up alongside it when the Lakers retire it next season.

2. All of the Seattle Supersonics

I know that teams have moved before and with them the team's history, but the circumstances under which the Sonics were ushered out of town should have been enough for the Thunder to leave well enough alone.

Clay Bennett's half-assed job of keeping the Sonics in Seattle was punishment enough for these people. Along with losing their team, they lost their team's history, just adding insult to injury.

It seems to me that if I were a hardcore Sonics fan and I saw Jack Sikma's No. 43 or Lenny Wilkins' No. 19 hanging up in Oklahoma City, I would just about throw up.

1. Pistol Pete in New Orleans

The New Orleans Hornets would obviously like to recall a bit of their past, but this is a bit of a strange way to do it.

Originally, the team in New Orleans was the New Orleans Jazz (you know, back when that nickname made sense). However, the team moved to Utah and with that went the team's history, including Pete Maravich.

However, once the Hornets moved from Charlotte to New Orleans in 2002, they decided to harken back to the past, retiring Pistol Pete's No. 7 in that same year.

Now, what's really going to be strange is when the Hornets become the new Supersonics and the Pistol's No. 7 is hanging up in Seattle.

Too soon to speculate?

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