A potentially awkward changing of the guard is looming when and if LeBron James becomes the all-time leading scores in the National Basketball Assn. That’s because the person he will surpass is fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who used an occasion today to once again knock James.
Abdul-Jabbar was handing out the new Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy to James’ teammate, Carmelo Anthony, as the NBA’s Social Justice Champion for the 2020-21 season before today’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
That’s when he once again took public issue with James. Abdul-Jabbar has already gone on the record against James several times this season.
James is in second place on the NBA’s all-time leading scorer list. It’s anticipated he’ll become the all-time leader at some point next season unless injury intervenes.
While Abdul-Jabbar said he has no problem with James beating the record on the court. However, he takes issue with what’s done once the ball stops bouncing.
“Some of the things he’s done and said are really beneath him, as far as I can see,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Some of the great things that he’s done, he’s standing on both sides of the fence almost, you know? It makes it hard for me to accept that when he’s committed himself to a different take on everything. It’s hard to figure out where he’s standing. You’ve got to check him out every time.”
The latest issue revolves around an off-color dance James performed after scoring late in an overtime victory against the Indiana Pacers. The dance accentuates activities below the waist.
“For me, winning is enough,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a video posted through Substack, a subscription commentary website, in early December. “Why do you need to do a stupid, childish dance and disrespect the other team on the court? It doesn’t make sense. GOATs don’t dance.”
Abdul-Jabbar also criticized a James meme in which three identical Spider-Man characters were pointing at one another, bearing the labels “COVID,” “cold,” and “flu.”