James Worthy: LeBron James Could Get Lakers Statue but 'Hasn't Been Here Long Enough'

LeBron James may have brought another banner to the Lakers franchise, but James Worthy does not think James is yet worthy of a statue outside Crypto.com Arena.

The Hall of Famer legend said LeBron needs to accomplish more in Los Angeles in order to put himself on the shortlist of all-time Lakers greats.

"It depends on what he does here out," Worthy told TMZ Sports when asked about the possibility of a LeBron statue. "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."

James has spent the last five seasons with the Lakers, highlighted by winning the 2020 NBA championship. He has already spent more time in Los Angeles than Miami, despite most fans more associating him with the Heat than the Lakers. It's possible that by the time James retires he'll have spent double the amount of time in a Lakers jersey than a Heat one.

That said, LeBron's run in Los Angeles has been by far his most inconsistent, thanks in large part to age, injuries and a shaky supporting cast. The Lakers won the 2020 championship and reached the 2023 conference finals, but they missed the playoffs twice and were bounced in the first round in the other three years.

James himself has remained spectacular when on the floor, but he's missed at least 20 games in four of his five seasons with the team after sitting out double-digit games just once in his first 15 NBA seasons.

Worthy spent his entire 12-year NBA career with the Lakers from 1982 to 1994. He made seven All-Star teams, won three championships and was the 1988 NBA Finals MVP, earning himself the nickname "Big Game James" in the process.

It seems Worthy believes this James needs to win some more big games to earn the high honor of a statue.