Byron Scott believes the reason LeBron James never fully won over Lakers fans in Los Angeles comes down to two things: Kobe Bryant’s shadow and the size of the championship standard.
Speaking on 97.1 The Fan LA, the former Lakers player and host said the reaction to LeBron was never going to be simple.
“It was interesting like you said, there’s no in between. There’s either you hate him or you love him for whatever reason.
And I think a lot of it has to do with KB. You have so many people here in Los Angeles that love Kobe.”
Scott said that kind of loyalty made LeBron’s arrival harder to fully embrace, especially because expectations in Los Angeles are different from most places.
“So LeBron coming here was not something that they really embraced. I think we here in Los Angeles, when you have one championship only in the last eight or nine years, that’s not good enough.
It’s just not what we’re used to. So I said this last year, I think it’s time for the Lakers and LeBron to kind of part ways and move forward.”
LeBron joined the Lakers in 2018, not long after Kobe retired following 20 seasons with the franchise. He stepped into a team that had gone through five straight losing seasons and quickly became the centerpiece of the roster.
The high point of his run came in 2020, when he and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to the NBA championship. LeBron earned Finals MVP, and the team captured its 17th title.
That title, though, was the only one the Lakers won during LeBron’s time in Los Angeles. For Scott, that’s the heart of the issue. The Lakers have long judged success against a standard built by Kobe, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and others, and one championship just didn’t clear the bar for everyone.
Scott’s view also lines up with what he has said before about LeBron’s time with the Lakers. The three-time champion has argued that winning only one title in Los Angeles damaged LeBron’s legacy, and he has said LeBron would need another ring before he should get a statue outside Crypto.com Arena.
He has also questioned whether LeBron should be viewed as a true Laker at all, repeatedly suggesting the franchise needed to move on and start building its next title team. He has even compared LeBron and Kobe when talking about how they compete and how they carry themselves, always circling back to the standards set by the franchise’s best eras.
That move on finally happened.
LeBron left the Lakers to join the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason, ending his eight-year run in Los Angeles and opening the door for the organization to hand the franchise over to Luka Doncic.
No matter how it’s remembered, LeBron’s Lakers chapter will stay complicated. He brought a championship back to Los Angeles, won Finals MVP, and delivered a title in one of the most emotional years in franchise history after Kobe Bryant’s death.
Still, Scott’s explanation helps make sense of why LeBron never quite became a universal favorite in Los Angeles.
In the end, championships still set the tone there. And for some Lakers fans, one was never going to be enough.
In Other News...
Ex-Laker Pushes Back On LeBrons Lakers Legacy Debate
Trevor Ariza has been around enough star-driven basketball to know how quickly the debate can get reduced to a slogan, and he is not buying the narrow version of LeBron James run with the Lakers. In speaking to Sports Illustrated after his move to the Philadelphia 76ers, Ariza made the case that James time in Los Angeles ought to be viewed through the championship the team won and the broader impact he had on the franchise, not just through the usual ring-chasing lens.
Ariza also pushed back on the habit of lining up James career choices against Kobe Bryants as if the two players operated under the same rules. He pointed to the differences in NBA contract structures and player movement from one era to the next, arguing that those realities make direct legacy comparisons less fair than they sound. It is the kind of reminder that does not settle the debate, but does complicate it in a way Lakers fans and NBA observers will recognize. [Read more 🡒]
Kawhi Leonards Clippers Scandal Is Raising One Damaging Question
The NBAs punishment of the Clippers for a salary-cap scandal has put the franchise back in an uncomfortable spotlight, and Kawhi Leonards name is right there with it. The league hit Los Angeles with draft-pick losses and fines, while Leonard was fined $700,000 as the fallout widened around a series of arrangements tied to the cap circumvention.
What has kept the story simmering is the skepticism from outside the organization, including former player Markieff Morris and commentator Pablo Torre, about Leonards claim that he did not know what was happening. Torre has pointed to documents and reporting that suggest Leonard was involved in endorsement deals connected to the scandal, even though Leonard has not faced any punishment beyond the fine so far. [Read more 🡒]
Rui Hachimura Choice Could Haunt Clippers If This Backfires
Rui Hachimuras offseason decision already has a layer of intrigue around it, and it has only grown since he chose the Clippers on a two-year contract with a second-year team option. The move gave him a clear path into a new situation, but it also meant passing on other possibilities, including a Spurs offer that would have brought a full mid-level exception and the chance to line up next to Victor Wembanyama.
For a player still trying to maximize both role and leverage, that kind of choice can linger if the fit does not break right. The reporting around Hachimura suggests the alternative was real enough to matter, and if the Clippers setup does not deliver the opportunity he was after, this could become one of those offseason calls that looks different in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]