Top 10 Reasons Why Michael Jordan Should Be Retired

If there's one thing I don't understand about professional sports, it's the reluctance to pay homage to those who were true legends of the game. Case in point, Michael Jeffery Jordan. Just this past weekend, LeBron James revealed plans to change his number because he felt that nobody should ever be able to wear Jordan's number. 

What followed has been a spirited debate that leaves no middle ground. I'm no different and that's why I felt compelled to give you the Top Ten Reasons Why Michael Jordan's 23 Should Be Retired.

1) It'd be a waste of time to go over Michael Jordan's accomplishments because we've heard them all. He was the greatest player in NBA history and revered by a legion of followers that to this day will be able to recall their favorite Michael Jordan moment on demand. In my humble opinion, permanently retiring the number 23 to honor the man who changed sports forever is the least we could do.

2) Michael Jordan may be the first athlete since Jackie Robinson to change not only the sport he played, but the world in which we live in. Please understand that Robinson broke through cultural barriers that in no way can be directly compared to anything Michael Jordan ever accomplished in this lifetime or the next. But M. Jeff did manage to alter the sports landscape forever by empowering athletes to become moguls as opposed to just a commodity bought and sold between owners in professional sports.

3) According to an estimate way, way back in 1998 by CNN, Michael Jordan's total effect on the global economy was $10 billion. But more importantly, you're talking about a $165.5 million effect on NBA attendance and a $366 million effect on television revenue. Men like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and others undoubtedly were the blocks that Jordan built upon. But Michael took that small stack of bricks and turned it into a mansion that Bill Gates himself would be jealous of.

4) All gambling debts and late nights aside, the inspiration Michael Jordan provided for a generation of young athletes both foreign and domestic is immeasurable. Even if you weren't a basketball fan growing up in the 1990's, chances are you still regarded Jordan as the pinnacle of athletic achievement and the definition of success. That alone is worth recognizing even if it wasn't a conscious decision on Jordan's part to be the role model he ended up becoming.

5) You know the names like the back of your hand: Nike, Gatorade, McDonald's, Hanes, Chevrolet and a host of others. Michael Jordan's endorsement deals are the reason why Tiger Woods is a billionaire and LeBron James is on his way to becoming one. You can talk all you want about the sentimental aspects of the game, how these types of things shouldn't be apart of the equation. But you'd be refusing to accept the fact that sports is in fact a business and Jordan set the bar for every athlete from this point on.

6) You can thank Jordan for helping to bring the game to international boundaries and their respective talents to the Association. Without a figure like Jordan to play the role of international spokesman for the game itself, there's a very good chance players like Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming and Andrei Kirilenko never even step onto the court.

7) It didn't matter if you were a Bulls fan because Michael Jordan's popularity went far beyond what team you happened to root for. He captured not only the nation, but the world with his play and when he left, so too did fans who had never cared for basketball before he came along.

And the rest of Michael Jordan's top 3 reasons are.......