The Los Angeles Lakers have added All-Star LeBron James to the mix this offseason in free agency, which has added yet another all-time great talent to their historic franchise.
Although James has put together an illustrious career, Hall of Famer and former Lakers Shaquille O’Neal recently voiced on the Official Lakers podcast that the 33-year-old can’t enter the conversation for the greatest player in team history because of the short amount of time he will be in Los Angeles in comparison to the other previous greats. (h/t Dan Duangdao of Lakers Nation)
“Stop it. You can’t come here and play one year and be involved in the conversation for best Laker ever. Stop it. Are you kidding me? … No disrespect to LeBron. He’s a great player, but you can’t come here one year and be in that conversation. Listen, Magic, Worthy, Kobe, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain. That’s a lot.”
This isn’t any strike against James and the caliber of player he is, but rather he won’t spend enough time to have put together a long enough career with the Lakers. Each of those previous greats including O’Neal played a sizeable chunk of their respective time in the league with the franchise as the four-time league MVP is under contract for up to the next four seasons.
What will also factor into the equation will be his ability to continue to play at an elite level through the duration of his time with the Lakers while leading them to a tremendous amount of success. James hasn’t shown any decline in his game, but he is entering the time frame of an NBA career where many of the game’s previous all-time talents saw a notable drop in their production and play on the court.
Regardless of that, James does have a chance in front of him to forever ingrain himself in Lakers’ history with whatever he helps lead the franchise to accomplish during his tenure.
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