Shaquille O’Neal Sends Message With Lakers Facing LeBron James Decision

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has accomplished nearly everything the NBA has to offer in his 22 seasons. A four-time champion and Finals MVP, James is also the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

While much of his success came before joining Los Angeles in 2018, James has had a very impressive Lakers tenure. In his seventh season with LA, James had been an All-Star each year, adding a championship and Finals MVP award in 2020.

Given his achievements in a Lakers uniform, James will certainly have at least one of his jersey numbers (6 and 23) retired by the franchise one day, but has he done enough to receive a statue outside Crypto.com Arena?

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23)© Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

One of the most iconic franchises in sports history, the Lakers have statues of Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West outside of their arena (h/t NBA).

With James’ career nearing its end, the Lakers face a decision on whether to honor him this way.

As Los Angeles mulls over this decision, O’Neal weighed in during an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.

“LeBron broke the record, and he did it as a Laker,” O’Neal said of James becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. “Would I oppose him having a statue in Los Angeles? No, I wouldn’t… But he won a championship with the Lakers, and a lot of people try to discredit it. If that one doesn’t count, then you can’t count Mr. Duncan’s bubble championship either. That’s right. I said it! If we’re counting Tim Duncan’s lockout-year championship, then you have to count LeBron’s too.”

Having a statue himself, O’Neal’s opinion on this topic certainly holds weight. The four-time NBA champion (three with Los Angeles) would not oppose James joining him outside Crypto.com Arena as the team’s seventh player with a statue.