Utah Jazz: 10 Jazzmen whose numbers should at least be considered for retirement

Matt Harpring (No. 15)

Remember that thing I said about it being super weird that the Jazz gave Favors’ No. 15 to Stanton Kidd? Well, a decade earlier, I thought it was super weird that they gave Matt Harpring‘s No. 15 to Favors.

So, which No. 15 is more deserving of the hypothetical honors here? Recency bias will say one thing, but you can definitely make the case that Harpring should actually be the choice over Favors.

Faves has the longevity advantage here, but not by much. He played eight and a half seasons with the Jazz to Harpring’s seven. Obviously, that puts him over the top in terms of games and minutes played, too, but Harp has the edge in other areas.

The elder player made more postseason appearances for the Jazz, his teams went deeper into the playoffs and were more successful overall and, over his first two years with the team, Harpring averaged 17 points per game, something Favors never could do despite the early hope that he could be a franchise player and a go-to guy down low.

Also: Harpring is actually tied to two of the team’s most successful eras of hoop, i.e. the Stockton-to-Malone years and the D-Will/Carlos Boozer reload that followed. And, really, few players mirrored the mentality of Coach Sloan like Harpring.

He gets bonus points for his continuing work with the organization as a broadcaster.