LeBron snubs Lakers legend in favor of himself in LA’s all-time starting 5

Los Angeles Lakers media day came and went and it left fans pretty disappointed. That’ll happen when your GM postures and gives reporters what they want to hear. Luckily, LeBron James swooped in and saved the day by reiterating his hatred for the Boston Celtics; a trademark Lakers fans inherit at birth.

Coming off consecutive disappointing seasons, these comments likely helped LeBron get back in Lakers fans good graces. That’s not to say LA fans disapprove with how James has performed (2021-22 might have been the best season of his career statistically speaking), but Lakers fans aren’t wrong to demand winning.

It’s engrained in their DNA. The team has 62 playoff appearances in 75 seasons and 17 championships to show for it, which is tied with the Celtics, who thankfully lost to the Warriors in last season’s Finals, for the most all-time.

A big reason for that, of course, is the laundry list of legends that have played for the purple and gold. That history is part of the reason LeBron left Cleveland and signed with the Lakers during the 2018 offseason.

While it’s great James wants to be a part of that history, he definitely rubbed Lakers fans the wrong way with his all-time LA starting five.

LeBron James’ all-time Lakers starting five had one glaring snub.

LeBron’s all-time Lakers starting five included himself (power forward), Magic Johnson (point guard), Jerry West (shooting guard), the late Kobe Bryant (small forward) and Shaquille O’Neal (center). That leaves Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the only player James trails for most points in NBA history, on the outside looking in.

"“I’m going Magic at the one, Jerry West at the two, Kobe at the three, myself at the four and Shaq at the five,” James said at Lakers media day.“I love Kareem too, man, I can’t even front on that. But Shaq’s so dominant. We need a big because I’m playing the four.”"

Look, there was no way for James to win this argument unless he just snubbed himself, but that was never going to happen. Whether you regard him as the best or second-best player of all-time behind Michael Jordan, the four-time MVP deserves a spot in that lineup based on reputation alone.

But is he an all-time great Laker yet? One championship in four years probably doesn’t cut it. Abdul-Jabbar, meanwhile, won five titles with the Lakers alone, took home three MVPs with Los Angeles and made 13 All-Stars in 14 seasons while averaging 22.1 points and 9.4 rebounds on 56.7% shooting from the floor.

Snubbing Kareem is just criminal. If anything, LeBron should’ve swapped Abdul-Jabbar for O’Neal, who, while an all-time great Laker in his own right, didn’t accomplish nearly as much with the purple and gold as the four-time block champ. Still, Shaq’s three rings are more than LeBron and he was a three-time MVP for LA.

At the end of the day, this isn’t that big of a deal, but if James wanted to nix the possibility of being criticized he simply shouldn’t have included himself. Being a top-two player of all-time doesn’t necessarily mean he should leapfrog Kareem on the Lakers’ all-time starting five.

End of story.

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