Former Lakers Champion Believes LeBron Doesn't Deserve Statue in LA

LeBron James will end his career as a no-question top-3 player ever. He’s racked up every statistic and accolade possible during his long and successful career.

Now people are starting to ask whether he will have a statue made in his honor at either the Cavaliers, Heat, or Lakers arenas. A statue outside the Cavaliers' stadium seems like an inevitability. There is a fairly good argument for one at the Heat arena, too. But what about in L.A.?

In an interview with TMZ Sports, former Lakers champion Byron Scott revealed whether he believes LeBron James deserves a statue for what he’s done as a Laker.

“No, no statue. One championship in six, seven years — I don’t know how many years he’s been in L.A. right now, but I think if he gets another one, then he has a chance. But right now, if you look at the players that have statues in front of the Crypto.com, these are long-lifers. They’ve been with the Lakers for almost their entire career, and they’ve had multiple championships. I think the only one that didn’t is probably Jerry West. But other than that, Jerry West spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he’s the logo for a reason. So, right now at this particular point — and I’m a big LeBron James fan for what he’s been able to do on and off the court — but statue? No.”

Scott makes a good point here. There are only a select few legends to be honored with a statue at the Lakers’ arena, and all have more history and success in a Lakers jersey than LeBron has.

Sure, LeBron won a championship in 2020 with the Lakers, but besides that, he hasn’t had all that much success. Players like Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal all won multiple championships with the Lakers and even won MVP awards while on the team.

So yes, LeBron is one of the best players to ever wear a Lakers jersey, but no, he doesn’t deserve to be in the elite club of statues that is reserved for Los Angeles Lakers legends.