Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has disagreed with LeBron James on a number of issues in the past. One of them pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic. As always, a lot of individuals don’t see eye to eye on this controversial subject. That should go without saying. On Tuesday, before giving out the first NBA Social Justice Champion Award, the NBA legend spoke to reporters.
To sum it up briefly, he thought LeBron should have felt embarrassed over a few of the divisive comments he made on social media regarding COVID-19. Abdul-Jabbar also criticized LeBron for his big balls dance celebration this season.
Today a reporter asked me a question about Lebron James and I regret my off-handed response which has been blown out of proportion. For years I’ve expressed my deep admiration and respect for LeBron as a community leader and athlete. That hasn’t changed and never will. –@kaj33 https://t.co/QEWed5YovX
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) April 4, 2022
Make no mistake, the retired player said the 19-year veteran deserves to pass him on the all-time scoring list. Legends can easily recognize other talented players. So, the disagreements were mostly related to non-basketball topics. Yesterday, Abdul-Jabbar was interviewed by SiriusXM NBA Radio.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar apologizes to LeBron
In the interview, Abdul-Jabbar said, “I’ve been talking to the press since high school, that’s 60 years of making statements. And I haven’t always gotten it right. And Sunday was one of those nights.”
Furthermore, Kareem recognizes the four-time MVP as one of the most generous caregivers in the league. LeBron James has not yet posted any messages on social media pertaining to this story. “It wasn’t my intention to criticize LeBron in any way,” Abdul-Jabbar continued on.
“He has done so much for the Black community as well as for the game of basketball. We may not always agree, but I want to wholeheartedly apologize to LeBron and make it clear that I have tremendous respect for him.” This apology seems sincere.
An overblown story can still be interesting
Additionally, this story became a big deal because Kareem is regarded as arguably the greatest center in NBA history. Abdul-Jabbar retired as a six-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, six-time MVP winner, 19-time All-Star and made All-NBA First Team 10 times in his career. He finished with 38,387 points, averaging 24.6 points per game.
If LeBron James can stay healthy next season, he will break Kareem’s all-time scoring record. Of course, this milestone is for the regular season. James needs about 1,400 more points to own the record. Next season, social media posts and banter between these two legends should be intriguing. These players have a lot of respect for one another.
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