LeBron James’ stats are crazy but they’re not good enough for a statue yet in Los Angeles
LeBron James recently became the first player in NBA history to surpass 40,000 career points.
James was nine points away from the milestone heading into the Lakers' game with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday and passed it in the second quarter.
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'The King' finished with 26 points, nine assists and four rebounds in a 114-124 loss to the defending champions.
James is the only player in NBA history with 40k points, 10k assists and 11k rebounds, meaning he's essentially averaged a triple-double for his career - a career littered with jaw-dropping performances and moments.
Many, including former Celtic and ESPN regular Kendrick Perkins, believe the four-time champion is deserving of a statue outside the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
"I mean, get ready to start scoping the statue for LeBron outside of Crypto.com arena. That's what, okay?" Perk recently said.
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"40,000 points done in the Lakers uniform passing Kareem when he passed him up in the Lakers uniform, winning an NBA championship in the Lakers uniform, what else can I say about the man?"
However, former Washington Wizards man and three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas isn't so sure.
Speaking on the 'Nightcap' podcast with Shannon Sharpe, he said James doesn't yet have enough accolades for the Purple & Gold to merit a statue.
"If his career stopped right now, hell no," Arenas said of the man who was the MVP in the Lakers 2020 title triumph over Miami.
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"[James] don't have enough accolades in the Lakers uniform.
"The title... he's only played six years. The closest statue we had to that was Shaq. He had three rings in eight years. That's the bottom. So it is going to be hard to put him there with six years... 8,000 points, and one championship."
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"That's not good enough for a statue in Los Angeles," Arenas added.
Fans weighed in on the debate and the responses were mixed.
"Give Pau Gasol A Statue in LA Before Lebron," said one fan.
"One bubble title isn't enough," another said about the title won during COVID. "If somehow they did it this year with all the challenges, perhaps? The west is stacked, so that would be something," added another.
"Wayne Gretzky has a statue at Crypto, and he never played a single game there. Oscar De La Hoya only fought there one time, and he lost. Based on those 2 alone, Lebron deserves a statue," argued someone else.
"Hear me out. I don’t think he has enough accolades as a Laker. But I do think Lakers wouldn’t want to miss out on having a historic player like that recognised as once putting on the Laker uniform," a fourth wrote.
Of course, all the statue talk is beyond LeBron's control.
All James can do is handle what goes down on the court and so far this season he's handling business.
He's having the best age-39 season ever seen in the NBA, averaging 25.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists per game while shooting a career-best 40.8% on three-pointers.
He also staged the biggest comeback of his 21-season NBA career in a 116-112 victory over the LA Clippers recently where he scored more points in the fourth quarter than the entire team.
However, his Lakers have generally had an up and down season and currently occupy the 10th seed out West.
With that said, they're 6-4 over their last ten games.
The Lakers are also 5.5 games ahead of the 11th-placed Jazz in the Western Conference and, barring a late season meltdown, look nailed on to make the play-in tournament.
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Perhaps if James can lead LA to an improbable title this season he'll be more deserving of a statue in Arenas' eyes.
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