Lakers' Austin Reaves Says LeBron James Deserves Statue in LA: 'Why Not?'
Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves expressed his belief Tuesday that teammate LeBron James deserves a statue in L.A. once he retires from the NBA.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated (h/t ClutchPoints), Reaves called James the "greatest player to ever play the game," and made a case for his statue:
Reaves noted that the Lakers weren't "having much success" before LeBron arrived and quickly helped them win a championship, prompting Reaves to ask, "Why not?" regarding a statue.
The debate of whether James has earned a statue in Los Angeles was brought to the forefront last month when Lakers legend James Worthy suggested LeBron is close to earning that honor during an interview with TMZ Sports:
"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.
"And he could get one in Cleveland as well. So, I don't know about Miami, but bringing one to Cleveland and Los Angeles, it's doable, in my opinion."
Before signing with the Lakers in 2018, James won a pair of championships with the Miami Heat and one title with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also won three NBA Finals MVP awards during that time.
The Lakers had missed the playoffs in five straight seasons prior to LeBron's arrival and had not won a championship since 2010 when Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol led the way.
In only his second season in L.A., and with the help of Anthony Davis, James brought another title to the Lakers in 2020, plus he was named NBA Finals MVP for a fourth time.
The Lakers have experienced uneven results since then, reaching the playoffs twice and missing once, but LeBron did help take them to the Western Conference Finals last season, where they fell to the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
On top of the championship, James broke the NBA's all-time scoring season, surpassing Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last season.
While his résumé in L.A. may not have yet reached the level of players like Kobe, Kareem, Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West and Co., LeBron is a true NBA legend, and it is unlikely fans will argue too much if the honor of a statue is bestowed upon him in L.A. at some point.
