Colin Cowherd doubts Lakers fans would want LeBron James statue

It will be interesting to see how the Los Angeles Lakers handle LeBron James’ legacy once he inevitably hangs up his sneakers. James has spent the past eight seasons with the Lakers, and he brought a title to LA back in 2020, which means that he should already be a legend of the franchise in the eye of the team’s fanbase.

Whether this results in James having a statue outside of the Lakers’ home of Crypto.com Arena remains to be seen. But for noted pundit Colin Cowherd, he doesn’t believe that James would get one from the team, especially when compared to the other greats of the franchise who’ve been immortalized.

“I think if you ask Laker fans, statue of LeBron outside of Crypto, it would be absolutely not. Folks think about the statues in front of Crypto. Kobe five rings. Jerry West six as an executive, and then nine finals appearances. Magic five titles, Shaq three, Kareem five, Pat Riley several. Chick Hearn 30 plus years of broadcasting,” Cowherd said on the latest episode of his podcast, The Herd.

Cowherd compared James’ role with the Lakers to that of a consultant, which is unlike the ones who came before him who can be considered family.

“Is he really family? LeBron feels more like a consultant. He adds value, a new set of eyes, polishes up the problems, and then when he leaves and the contract is done, you’re like, alright, see ya. Nobody sheds tears, nobody cries, this is not family, and that’s the downside of mobility. LeBron is not Lakers family,” Cowherd added.

If anything, James deserves a statue outside of Rocket Mortgage Arena as well as Kaseya Center for his contributions for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, at least according to Cowherd.

“Miami, sure. Cleveland, absolutely,” Cowherd said. “With LeBron the first sentence is, Cleveland’s finest, most points ever, part of the Heatles.”

Los Angeles is definitely Kobe territory, and it might elicit mixed feelings from the fanbase should James receive similar recognition as the late, great Black Mamba — especially if the reactions to Bam Adebayo’s 83-point night are an indication to how territorial fans of Bryant are.

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