The Los Angeles Lakers have officially less than one month to go until their 2025 season kicks off at home against the Golden State Warriors. It's been an interesting offseason for the Lakers, who re-signed Luka Doncic and added Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton on the buyout market.
The Lakers, of course, also still employ LeBron James, the man who won a championship in his second season with the team but has yet to win a game past the second round since.
Recently, former Lakers guard and NBA champion Byron Scott proclaimed that James has not yet done enough to deserve a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena.
“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,” said Scott, per TMZ. “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.”
Scott also spoke on how James relates to the late, great Jerry West.
“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,” he said. “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.”
An interesting debate
While some NBA teams have statues for players who never even came close to winning a championship, things are different for the Lakers, the most successful organization in basketball with only so much real estate around Crypto.com Arena to add new hardware.
As Scott noted, if James wins another championship in the purple and gold, it would be hard to deny him that honor. James will almost assuredly get a statue one day in Cleveland, and possibly in Miami as well.
In any case, the Lakers' season is slated to tip off on October 21.
