Do LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar share a close relationship? Exploring the dynamic between the 2 NBA stalwarts
LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are two of the best scorers in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar became the all-time leading scorer in the league after 20 seasons, but James is catching up.
The big man has a lead of only 1,325 points and LeBron will most likely surpass him next season. Still, both LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are NBA legends who will never be forgotten.
Both players excelled at what they do on the court, but no one really knows what their off-court relationship is like. We will explore this and find out if the two legends have a close relationship.
Are LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar close?
The two Los Angeles Lakers legends have achieved a lot on and off the court. They both hold numerous records and are generally considered to be among the top five players of all time.
However, the truth is that they aren't very close to each other. Despite both of them fighting to improve the black community and positively affecting the lives of many other people, they haven't gotten in touch very often.
According to ESPN, the Lakers legends have only had brief conversations in the past:
"Abdul-Jabbar said his and James' in-person interactions have only been brief, but he would also welcome a further connection."
However, LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have had some disagreements in the past. James has been very active on his Instagram profile and shared a Spider-Man meme during the COVID-19 lockdown on it. The Lakers forward implied that the virus wasn't more dangerous than the flu, despite killing millions of people.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says he’d be willing to meet Lakers’ LeBron James to discuss their differences on issues like vaccine advocacy: “I admire the things he’s done… Sending a whole school to college, wow, that’s amazing… Some of the things he’s done he should be embarrassed by.” https://t.co/0QlNMNUXit
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a vaccine and mask advocate, which is why he responded to LeBron James and said that "some of the things he's done, he should be embarrassed by."
LeBron dismissed Abdul-Jabbar's comments, saying that he was only trying to figure out what was going on with the pandemic.
Just a few days later, the scoring record holder apologized to James and said that he didn't make the right statement with his comments. He also said that he respects what the four-time champion has done, both on and off the court.
LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are at the top of the scoring list
LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are at the very top of the scoring list. Abdul-Jabbar played for 20 seasons in the NBA, while James will enter his 20th season in just a few months.
In his past four seasons with the LA Lakers, James has played 56 games on average. If he plays 56 games next season, he will need to average only 23.66 points per game to surpass the NBA legend.
Two NBA legends.
LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stand at the top of the all-time scoring list 🙌 https://t.co/RGmpjzVCd6
LeBron's lowest scoring average came during his rookie season as he averaged 20.9 points per game. Ever since then, James has averaged 27.5 points, which is very impressive.
Barring any injuries, we can expect James to dethrone Abdul-Jabbar by the end of next season and become the NBA's all-time leading scorer.