Kareem Abdul-Jabbar upset with Lakers because he didn’t get a statue
A. Isaac 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may very well be the best center of all-time. In fact, many people mention him in the same breath as Jordan and Magic as THE greatest player in the history of the NBA. But as far as the Lakers are concerned, Kareem is just one of many, in a long line of Lakers greats. And for Jabbar, it’s something that has irked him for years.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about athletes, it’s this: To be a top-notch player, you have to have a bit of a swagger, perhaps some might call it overconfidence or an inflated ego. That personality trait doesn’t disappear when their playing days are over. For Kareem, it certainly hasn’t–and his main gripe of not getting his own statue or even the same kind of “warm” treatment Magic Johnson and Jerry West have, is probably a legitimate one.
Since your interview with the Sporting News was published highlighting the fact that you felt slighted about not having a statue, what has been the reaction?
Most people have been surprised in their reaction to how I have been treated. It’s gone on for so long, I couldn’t really continue not to address the issue. I was interviewed by the Sporting News and they mentioned it in passing that they had seen me at the unveiling of Jerry West’s statue and they asked, “Where’s your statue?” I said, I don’t know. I’ve been told that I was going to get one by Mr. [Tim] Leiweke, but that was a couple of years ago. Nothing more had been said about it. He could tell I was annoyed by it and that’s how it got out there in the Sporting News. Once people started to know about it, I had to address the issue.
You tweeted to a fan, “I don’t think at this point this can be rectified as this is the first time I have ever made my feelings public. Moving on.” Why can’t it be rectified?
The relationship is fractured. I said I got a call from Linda Rambis saying I will definitely have a statue out there. But there’s going to be a strike or a lockout, so the Lakers are clearing the deck. I don’t expect my relationship with the team to continue beyond this point. They don’t really value my presence there like they value other people. That’s fairly obvious. I can only speculate to what that’s about, but if you look at how they’ve dealt with Magic over the years and how they’ve dealt with me, there’s a big disparity.
The Lakers organization has said that the next statue that goes up will belong to Kareem, but at this point it may very well be too little too late. The relationship seems beyond broken and Kareem feels slighted. Some might say Kareem is being a baby and I don’t doubt there’s a little “butt-hurt” going on here. But for a guy who won just as many titles as the venerable Magic Johnson, well, in not so many words, he deserves better.
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