Fansided

San Antonio Spurs held private ceremony to retire Matt Bonner’s flannel shirt

By Dan Favale

Jan 20, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Matt Bonner (15) commits an offensive foul against Denver Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic (23) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 20, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Matt Bonner (15) commits an offensive foul against Denver Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic (23) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Matt Bonner spent 10 years with the San Antonio Spurs. He hit more than 650 3-pointers at a 41.3 percent clip for them. He won two NBA title with them. He played randomly stingy defense in the post against back-to-the-basket megastuds for them.

After announcing his retirement—via an epically epic video that is epic—he deserves a proper sendoff into retirement.

So the Spurs, as Manu Ginobili showed us, gave him one:

Bonner being Bonner, he responded in Bonner-y fashion:

We can only assume the Spurs held a similar ceremony for Tim Duncan after he announced his retirement. But instead of a green flannel shirt, his was probably a faded-puce button-down that was sewed onto the waistline of some oversized-pocketed JNCO jeans he picked up at one of Dennis Rodman’s garage sales in 1993.

(Important aside: Remember JNCO jeans?!?!?)

It’s good to see that the Spurs are maintaining their sense of humor now that both Boris Diaw and Bonner are gone. Tony Parker and Ginobili are pretty light-hearted dues, and head honcho Gregg Popovich has his moments. But the new franchise faces, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard, are gravel-faced captains who aren’t ever the life of the party. There exists the inherent risk that behind-the-scenes shenanigans such as this would need to be tabled, borne from the fear of inadvertently insulting the contents of Leonard’s closet or directly offending Aldridge’s seeming lack of comedic appreciation.

Next: Watch Klay Thompson shoot and (presumably) swish a ball Stephen Curry wanted to kick

For Bonner, this is presumably the first in a long line of honorary good-byes.

Today, his lumberjack halloween costume hangs beside Danny Green’s locker.

Tomorrow, he assumes his rightful place in the rafters, noticeably sandwiched (I’m so sorry) between Bruce Bown and Duncan:

And for the record: All of us should be excited for Diaw’s eventual Spurs sendoff. His No. 33-branded espresso machine is going to look so good prominently pinned to a mantle beside Kyle Anderson’s locker.

Home/NBA