Listing the only 3 NBA teams to not retire a single player's jersey
Jersey retirements are not commonly handed out in the NBA. They are deserving for a certain kind of player, coach, fan, broadcaster or announcer who has shown extensive loyalty to their franchise or who has helped deliver a certain level of success.
The Boston Celtics currently have the most jerseys retired with 25 due to their history of championship wins, particularly in the early stages of the NBA. Meanwhile, the late, great Kobe Bryant is the only player to have had two numbers retired by the same franchise after both the No. 8 and No. 24 jerseys were raised to the Staples Center rafters.
However, there are some teams in the NBA who have not yet retired any player's jerseys, which is what we will discuss in this article.
NBA teams that have not retired a jersey
#1 LA Clippers
Despite being a franchise for over 50 years, the LA Clippers are yet to retire one of their player's jerseys. Beginning their life in the league as the Buffalo Braves, the organization then moved to San Diego before settling in LA. They came the closest to the NBA Finals than they have ever done so last season when they reached the Conference Finals for the first time but have yet to win a championship.
That is perhaps the main reason the Clippers have never hoisted a jersey to the rafters. Nevertheless, the ball club have several options, both from their 'Lob City' days and from the 1970s when Bob McAdoo won NBA MVP.
There is, of course, the current roster, too, who were a Kawhi Leonard injury away from possibly making it through to the NBA's championship round. Should Leonard and Paul George lead the team to a first title in the next couple of seasons, they could quite feasibly be the first players to earn a place in LA Clippers history.
From the Clippers' 'Lob City' teams, several candidates could lay claim to becoming the first player to have their number retired. DeAndre Jordan leads the franchise in games played with 750, rebounds and blocks - all of which are unlikely to be broken for a very long time.
His teammates Chris Paul and Blake Griffin also have their merits for helping to turn the organization's fortunes around and make them competitive in the West.
Paul is the franchise leader in assists with 4,023 and has scored the most postseason points of any Clipper player. Griffin, meanwhile, ranks among the top five players of all-time in points, rebounds and assists and sits sixth for games played.
Randy Smith, who played for the team in Buffalo, has the record for most points and most steals and ranks second behind Chris Paul for assists.