Mehmet Okur (No. 13)
Of all the players on this list, Mehmet Okur is the one who I’ll always most go to bat for in terms of jersey retirement. I just about blew a gasket when Elijah Millsap was rolling around in his No. 13, a number that now belongs to big man Tony Bradley.
Along with Dirk Nowitzki, Memo changed the game as a floor-spacing big man. In doing so, he picked up an All-Star nod, helped the Jazz reach the Western Conference Finals and win multiple playoff series and developed a reputation for coming through in the clutch.
Seven of his 10 years in the Association were spent in a Jazz uniform. During that time, he played in nearly 500 games and averaged 15 points, eight boards and two assists per game while shooting 38 percent from distance.
He currently ranks sixth in Jazz history in 3-pointers, eighth in offensive win shares, 10th in offensive box plus/minus and 10th in points scored.
If he hadn’t attempted to play through an Achilles injury during the 2010 NBA Playoffs — he was hurting going into postseason play, then actually ruptured the tendon in Game 1 of Utah’s quarter-final series against the Denver Nuggets — the “Money Man” probably has several more good years with the team.
As it stands, he’s maybe the sole major player from the D-Will/Boozer era of Jazz basketball that didn’t rub the fanbase the wrong way somehow on his way out. He even worked for the team as a goodwill ambassador after his playing career ended.