Comments on: The Bulls should retire Norm Van Lier’s number

By: Terry Hegarty

Terry Hegarty — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:39:48 +0000

Norm Van Lier should have his #2 jersey retired. He represents everything a chicago sports fan loves: defense and toughness.

By: Noor Hammad

Noor Hammad — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:18:51 +0000

Hear, hear. Completely agree.

Noor Hammad

By: At 11 pm, let free agency begin | Outside the Clubhouse

At 11 pm, let free agency begin | Outside the Clubhouse — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:05:49 +0000

[...] The Bulls need to retire Norm Van Lier’s number. [By the Horns] [...]

By: bobbysimmons

bobbysimmons — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:57:27 +0000

but i do agree that he shouldn’t have to bear the disgrace of having Pargo or Eddy Curry wear his number

By: bobbysimmons

bobbysimmons — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:56:11 +0000

Norm was a great guy and all, but he shouldn’t have his number retired. You point to the defensive teams he was on during his career, yet remember the league had less than 20 teams back then, so it’s not as big as an accomplishment as it is today. You guys just all love him because he was on Bull Post Game Live for all those years, by the same logic in 20 years people will be clamoring for Stacey King’s number to be retired. Retired numbers should be reserved for only truly elite basketball players.

By: thirdsaint

thirdsaint — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:31:50 +0000

Completely agree here too. Loved hearing his commentary and I’m sure it helped light a fire under some players at points of their career here. His number should be retired and Krause’s banner should be torn down. :-/

By: t-rocc

t-rocc — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:58:16 +0000

i completely agree, Matt. and boy do I miss both of those guys on the telecasts…

By: birdie

birdie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:54:24 +0000

I agree that Van Lier’s number should be retired but I also think that is embarassing that Bulls retired only 2 numbers from generation which won 6 championship rings. Some clubs retire number of some players although they didn’t win anything. I think that Kukoc’s number 7 should be retired too.

By: Tony C.

Tony C. — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:23:42 +0000

Couldn’t agree more, Matt. In fact, Sloan and Van Lier really personified the Bulls more than MJ (i.e. more about determination than talent, though MJ obviously had both).

By: Boppinbob

Boppinbob — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:43:09 +0000

Hear! Hear! Norm Van Lier’s number should definitely be retired both as a player and an analyst. He played with heart and total effort all the time he was on the court. As a fan you could count on him for a fair appraisal of the teams performance on all games that he covered. Many players felt the heat of Van Lier’s criticism. Pippen felt it on many occassions, espically for the migraine incident and the Pippen/Kukoc flap while Michael was playing baseball. That was the time that Phil Jackson called Kukoc’s number for a last second shot to win a game and Pippen took himself out of the game. Stormin Norman’s number should definitely be retired