“Hell Naw”: Gilbert Arenas and Shannon Sharpe rebuke Kendrick Perkins' hot take on LeBron James’ statue in LA
LeBron James has surpassed 40,000 points to become the first player in NBA history to hit the mark. The LA Lakers superstar was nine points shy of the milestone as he laced up to take on the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, and hit the mammoth number in the second quarter. While the Purple and Gold went down 124-114 to the defending champions, the focus was on James, who at 39 and 21 seasons in the league, continues to be a force every single game. While the GOAT debate ensued on one end, the other saw the statue conversations mill about. Some believe that the 4x NBA champion does not deserve a statue outside the Crypto.com Arena.
After former NBA star Kendrick Perkins made a bold claim that the Lakers will have to build a statue to honor James' legacy in LA following his latest achievement in a Lakers uniform, Gilbert Arenas kept it blunt by disagreeing with the former big. Speaking to Shannon Sharpe on the 'Nightcap' podcast, the former Washington Wizards star felt James didn't have enough accolades to merit a statue.
"Hell naw. He [LeBron 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. That's not good enough for a statue in Los Angeles," Arenas said.
The statue debate is now one of the hottest topics when it comes to talking LeBron James. Arenas believes that James' contributions to LA aren't enough and that Shaquille O'Neal's three titles were pretty much the bare minimum.
Former Lakers great James Worthy feels LeBron James doesn't deserve a statue in LA
It wasn't just Gilbert Arenas who believed LeBron James didn't deserve a statue in LA. Former Lakers legend James Worthy agreed last year when the 4x NBA MVP surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the leading scorer in the NBA. According to TMZ Sports, Worthy said:
"It depends on what he does here out. Personally—and I think he'd agree—he hasn't been here long enough. But I think his overall greatness, when you have a player like LeBron, who breaks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's [all-time scoring] record in Los Angeles, does it as a Laker, then wins a championship as a Laker, you can't argue that he could get a statue in Los Angeles."
On his part, James has maintained that his objective is another title with LA. This season has not been the best for the franchise as they are barely managing to stay alive in playoff competition. Placed tenth with a 33-29 record, LA are in danger of either missing out on a playoff berth if their losses mount or they will have to battle it out in the play-in tournament and hope to make the eighth seed at best.