The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that the team will retire Nick Collison’s No. 4 on Wednesday, March 20 when the Thunder hosts the Toronto Raptors at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Collison announced his retirement this past May after spending all 15 years of his career with the Thunder franchise. His No. 4 will be the first number retired by the Thunder.
Needless to say, there's been some sneering on social media. Collison obviously wasn't an All-Star with Hall of Fame numbers, but we're not talking about him going into the Hall of Fame. We're talking about the team he played for his entire career honouring him by retiring his jersey.
Personally, I like it, and think it's just fine. They are essentially a new franchise (albeit sharing the history of the Seattle SuperSonics), he was there from the beginning (and indeed, was there in the final Seattle years as well), and he was a solid role player who had some decent years and provided leadership. Teams retire a player's jersey because they meant something to them, not because they were a superstar in the league (though admittedly, the two often do go hand in hand). Clearly, Collison meant a lot to the franchise and they want to thank him for fourteen years of loyal service. I've seen naysayers suggest that it's because no one else would sign him, but he's the kind of player who would've been able to latch on elsewhere if he wanted to at some point in his career. Even if no one else did want him, the Thunder did, and he stuck around giving it his all for all those seasons.
I say congratulations to him. Lasting fourteen years in the league is no easy feat, and puts him ahead of a lot of hopeful people who step onto the hardwood. Again, it's the team he played for honouring him, not the league or the Hall of Fame. They feel he deserves to be honoured, and that's what matters at the end of the day. You've got to start somewhere in terms of honouring former players, and the guy who was with you for over a decade and through a relocation and rebranding, playing a solid role through a reasonably successful era, is as good a place as any.
