LeBron James has represented the Los Angeles Lakers organization well during his first seven seasons with the team. However, if he retires today, former Lakers guard Byron Scott doesn’t think James deserves to have a statue outside the Crypto.com Arena.
According to Scott, that honor is reserved for players who have played all, if not most of their NBA careers in Purple & Gold and those who have been a part of more than one of the Lake Show’s 17 championship banners.
Advertisement
“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,”said Scott to TMZ Sports.
Seven seasons and one ring are not enough
LeBron has played a record-tying 22 NBA seasons, but half of those were played with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which drafted him first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft and four with the Miami Heat, where he won half of his four NBA championships.
Advertisement
Only seven of those were spent in Los Angeles. In his seven years there, the Lakers made the playoffs five times, losing in the first round thrice, including the previous two seasons. Overall, the Purple & Gold have a mediocre 28-25 playoff record with James at the helm. He led them to the 2020 NBA championship in the Orlando Bubble Tournament, but Scott says one is not enough to be immortalized as a Laker.
“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,” said Scott.
Elgin did not win a championship and has a statue
It’s worth noting, though, that five of the seven statues currently at Star Plaza on the Lakers’ home court are former players and not all of them won an NBA championship.
Advertisement
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson lead the list with five titles during the Showtime era, while the late Kobe Bryant won four rings as a Laker. Shaquille O’Neal led the three-peat from 2000-02, while West had one in 1972. The fifth player is Elgin Baylor, who failed to win a single chip for the Lake Show. However, Baylor was a “long-lifer” as Scott coined it, having spent all of his 14 NBA seasons in Los Angeles.
However, when it comes to longevity in Purple & Gold, O’Neal played only eight seasons in Los Angeles and even played for more teams than James has, with six. Shaq also won a championship in Miami after his Lakers tenure, and he was the Orlando Magic’s franchise player before leaving for Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, LeBron is set to enter his 8th season in Los Angeles in 2025-26, which will mark a record 23 NBA seasons played. James also became the NBA’s all-time scoring leader in 2023 in a Lakers uniform. With the same number of years as Shaq and the same title count as The Logo, LBJ does make a valid claim for a statue. But then again, that’s not ours, nor Scott’s decision to make, but the Lake Show’s. That’s something we have to wait and see.
Advertisement
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.