Dear Marquis Daniels and Shelden Williams (as well as any future signings); welcome to the Boston Celtics! Your first order of business is to pick out a new number. In Boston this is no simple task. In fact, it is a pretty big deal. This is your legacy and this town makes a very big deal about that.
Piggybacking on FLCeltsFan's articles on retired numbers, I thought I'd give you guys some guidelines and advice.
First you don't have to follow this guideline but traditionally for 2 digit numbers, you want to keep both digits under 5 because it makes it easier for the ref's to single your number to the scorer's table (and let's face it, the refs are going to be on edge with this team already) That's why numbers like 23 and 34 are more common than say 66 or 99.
So here are the numbers that are off limits.
Retired numbers: 00, 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 33, 35
Current player's numbers: 4, 5, 9, 12, 20, 30, 34, 42, 43, 44, 50
Celtics Free Agents: 0, 7, 8, 11
Some suggestions:
- For the most part it isn't a good idea to take a free agent's number if they are still unsigned elsewhere (ie. don't take 0). But seriously, feel free to take Mikki Moore's #7.
- 13: for the non-superstitious (or perhaps for the anti-jinx crowd). Might be a good fit for Marquis who is used to putting odd markings on his body.
- 45: probably better for the wide bodied Williams since the numbers take up a lot of room on the jersey.
- 51, 52, 53, 54, 55: Yeah, nobody wants these numbers. Mostly reserved for 10 day contract guys.
- At this point, you just have to ditch the conformity route. Go with a 27 or a 36 or something like that.
- Check the comments - the readers here will not only tell me where I made mistakes, but they'll offer their own ideas as well. Happy number hunting!