LeBron James brought a championship to Los Angeles, but that still wasn’t enough to win over a chunk of Lakers fans when the subject turned to the sport’s biggest honors. Asked by Aron Cohen whether James deserves a statue or a retired jersey, most of the fans he spoke with came back with the same answer: no.
One fan didn’t hold back.
“Let me tell you, this guy, LeBron, he is not the greatest guy,” a fan said. “I would not retire his jersey.
His son is not bad, though. He’s going to be an All-Star.
Statue? Hell no.”
That same response made room for Bronny James, even as the LeBron skepticism stayed strong. Another fan went even further, saying James never truly became one of the franchise’s own.
“No, I don’t think he’s a true Laker,” a fan said. “I don’t think LeBron was ever a true Laker.
No statue. Absolutely not.
This is a real Lakers right here. Pau Gasol, Kobe [Bryant], Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom.
I’m actually glad he’s gone. I’m actually into the Lakers again.”
That fan also said they hadn’t watched the team during the eight seasons James was in Los Angeles. A different supporter was more appreciative of what James did, but still drew the line at a statue.
“No, he needs more than one championship,” a fan said. “Respectfully, my King, no statue.
No statue. Everyone here has multiple championships.
LeBron does not. I love LeBron, and I was sad when he left, but no statue.”
Only Chick Hearn (broadcaster), Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Pat Riley, and Shaquille O’Neal currently have statues outside Crypto.com Arena. Baylor and West were the only players on that list who didn’t win multiple titles with the Lakers, though West also won six championships as their general manager.
That backdrop matters in a place like Los Angeles, where expectations are different and the trophy count is the standard. James did deliver the 2019-20 title, but for these fans, one ring and one Finals trip weren’t enough to move him into statue territory.
“Probably not,” a fan said. “I’m just not much of a LeBron fan.
I’m not going to lie. Guess they could if they really wanted to.
He’s a great player and stuff, but I mean, he did make like a little bit of a difference, but not like a major impact.”
Another fan tied their answer directly to James’ exit.
“Absolutely not,” a fan said. “I think he had a perfect home here.
Could have retired here. He had it made, this beautiful building.
We’re moving on. We got the next superstar here.”
A few fans did show support, but the overall tone leaned against both a statue and, in the minds of many, the kind of place in franchise lore that comes with that kind of honor. Jeanie Buss has already said the Lakers will retire James’ jersey, though she did not say whether No.
6, No. 23, or both will eventually hang in the rafters. With ownership uncertainty around the franchise, even that decision could land under a different set of hands.
Statue or no statue, James’ Lakers run still produced plenty of numbers. He finished his time in Los Angeles with averages of 25.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game. Across those eight seasons, he made the All-Star team every year, earned All-NBA honors seven times, and won the assists title in 2020.
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