Former Lakers Center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to get Honored at Staples Center with Statue

Although I have not wrote much about sports here on this blog, I had to mention a move that the Lakers, the NBA, and Staples Center will be making this upcoming year. When an NBA sports fan attends a Lakers basketball game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, they are greeted by a few legendary athlete statues of great L.A. sports icons. Magic Johnson, Jerry West, and Chick Hearn are the former NBA players who have statues displayed. Boxer Oscar De La Hoya and NHL hockey player Wayne Gretzky also have statues of them displayed outside of the Staples Center. For many NBA fans though, it may seem as if there is one deserving former Laker player that does not have a statue displayed at Staples. This player was only a center who won six NBA titles in his career, five with Los Angeles. He also won six MVP awards, three with Los Angeles. He is regarded by most as one of the greatest centers ever to play the game. We are of course talking about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Sometime during the upcoming 2012-2013 season, the former NBA Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will get his statue in front of the Staples Center. Who ever said that a little complaining didn't go a long way? Kareem had recently let his feelings be known of not having a statue of him at Staples. Some might say that this guy has an ego problem and that if those in charge thought that he should have a statue that they would have already done so themselves. Wait a minute now! Didn't this guy help L.A. win five championships during the 1980s? Wasn't he the leading scorer on those 1980s showtime teams? Wasn't he the guy who was unstoppable with his trademark skyhook? We all know that Magic Johnson was the main man on those teams, and respect should be given where respect is deserved. Magic has had his statue for some time now and deservedly so. Shouldn't Kareem though have had his statue put up a long time ago. He has been retired from the NBA since 1989 and decades have passed with no Kareem statue. He is only the all-time leading scorer in NBA history. Do disrespect to the NBA or the Lakers organization, they may have just forgotten. Good for Kareem for having to remind them what he deserves.

No specific date has been given as to which the statue will be unveiled. All that is know is that it will happen sometimes during the 2012-2013 season. The L.A. organization has maintained that there is no set criteria for statue induction order. NBA teams are not the only ones who have a say in who gets a statue. AEG, the owners of Staples Center also have a huge say on who gets an honorary statue.