KAREEM Abdul-Jabbar is to be immortalized in bronze in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly intend to unveil a statue of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer outside the Staples Center at some point during the upcoming season.
In May 2011, Abdul-Jabbar said
he felt disrespected by his former team for not creating a statue of him outside its home arena. There are currently five men who are cast in bronze on Star Plaza: Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Chick Hearn, Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya.
“I don’t understand (it). It’s either an oversight or they’re taking me for granted,” Abdul-Jabbar said last year. “I’m not going to try to read people’s minds, but it doesn’t make me happy. It’s definitely a slight. I feel slighted.”
The Hall of Fame center later told the magazine, through a statement shared by his business manager, that he was “highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success. I guess being the lynchpin for five world championships is not considered significant enough in terms of being part of Laker history.
“When you look at what (owner Jerry Buss) did for Earvin (Johnson) and what he did for me, big disparity there.
“I just think that it’s a mindset that’s taken over in the organization that I’m of minimal value to the organization and they’re doing other things. … They just don’t seem to want to include me in the way they have included other people.”
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