Larry Nance would love nothing more than to see his son wear jersey No. 22 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Nance, 59, was a three-time All-Star as a player, won the original dunk contest, and his No. 22 was retired by the Cavs. His son, Larry Nance Jr., was traded to the Cavs last week at the trade deadline. The elder Nance says he called the Cavs immediately after the trade to tell them to unretire his number so his son could wear it.
“As soon as he called me and let me now that he got traded here, I called the Cavs and said, ‘He can have the number. Please give him the number.’ And I think he was calling, saying, ‘My dad deserves to keep that up there,'” Nance told “Golic and Wingo” on ESPN Radio.
Nance Jr. is wearing jersey No. 24 with the Cavs for now, but his dad is going to work on him to see if he can persuade him to change.
“But I got this summer. I’m going to just let him wear No. 24, and I’m going to work on him all summer because I would be nothing prouder if he just had that number on his back.
“He’s wore it his whole career—well, he had to wear No. 7 in L.A.—but I would be proud if he wore it. I think he respects me.
“So we’re just going to have that conversation a lot this summer, and hopefully I can talk him into it.”
Here’s audio of his comments:
Even if the deal won’t put Nance Jr. in jersey No. 22 with the Cavs, at least it gave us this great throwback pic:
God’s Plan, God’s Plan. #AllForOne pic.twitter.com/YrApXhWfcx
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 11, 2018
