Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar admits there's no one to blame but himself for his lack of relationship with LeBron James.

After James surpassed Abdul-Jabbar on the NBA's all-time scoring list on Tuesday, Kareem took it to his Substack to open up about the milestone and his relationship with LeBron–or the lack thereof. Abdul-Jabbar has been critical of the Lakers star in the past, and it was made clear the two don't have any sort of connection when James said last October that he has “no relationship and no thoughts” about the iconic big man.

Abdul-Jabbar, however, doesn't think that his non-existent relationship with James is caused by something he said or did in the past. Instead, he believes it is simply because he himself never attempted to reach out to the Lakers superstar.

“LeBron said we don’t have a relationship. He’s right—and for that I blame myself. Not for anything I did, but perhaps for not making more of an effort to reach out to him,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

“By nature I have never been a chummy, reaching-out kind of guy (as the media was always quick to point out). I’m quiet, shy, and am such a devoted homebody that you’d think I have agoraphobia. I like to read, watch TV, listen to jazz. That’s pretty much it. For the past 15 years my focus has been less on forming new relationships than on nurturing my old friendships with people like Magic, Michael Cooper, Jerry West, and so on.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar added that their age difference is another reason he and LeBron James were never able to form a “bond,” emphasizing that James was just born when he broke the record. With that said, by the time LeBron is dominating in the NBA, KAJ is already “removed from the NBA world.”

Still, Kareem is happy that James broke his record that stood for nearly four decades. He furthered that while he is not close with LeBron, he's glad that the new all-time scoring king found a mentor and friend in Kobe Bryant.

“That disconnect is on me. I knew the pressures he was under and maybe I could have helped ease them a bit. But I saw that LeBron had a friend and mentor in Kobe Bryant and I was just an empty jersey in the rafters. I couldn’t imagine why he’d want to hang with someone twice his age. How many do?” Kareem added.

Abdul-Jabbar and James had a moment on the court together on Tuesday after James took the top spot on the NBA all-time scoring list. It's certainly a great moment to see considering all the issues surrounding them. Hopefully, though, the two can still form a bond even this late.