1. Kenny Gattison #44
Paul Westphal made #44 iconic during his time with the Phoenix Suns and is considered one of the best to lace them up for the orange and purple. Yet, three years after he retired, a rookie by the name of Kenny Gattison chose #44 and I hope someone got fired for it.
Gattison had a meh rookie season, averaging 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds, but an injury kept him out his entire sophomore campaign, and much of this his third year, his last in Phoenix.
To add further insult, Westphal joined the team as an assistant coach during Gattison’s third year, so he had to watch this struggling youngster wear his number every day. That could have been part of the reason the Suns didn’t keep him around.
Gattison actually went on to have a decent NBA career and wore #44 at almost every stop.
I have mixed emotions on retiring numbers. It is a tough balance between honoring the legends of the past and not having a starting lineup featuring numbers like #93, #74, #68, #81, and #59 thirty years from now (kind of like the New York Yankees have going on).
But with the system the way it is, I’m not sure how you let rookies and 10-day contract guys pick numbers of great players in the past, whether they are in the Ring of Honor yet or not.