The City of Angels is about to get another immortalized sports figure.
This time, an NBA legend will get his own statue outside of the Lakers home-court at The Staples Center. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been chosen to receive a statue for his achievements with the team.
To this day, Abdul-Jabbar remains as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer (38,387 points). Kareem won 6 NBA championship as a L.A. Laker.
The LA Times Reports:
The Lakers are to unveil a statue featuring Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at some point during the 2012-13 season, The Times has learned. A firm date for introducing the statue outside Staples Center hasn’t been finalized.
The Lakers have previously indicated they would unveil a statue of Abdul-Jabbar at some point, after honoring Magic Johnson, Chick Hearn and Jerry West on Star Plaza at Staples Center.
AEG, which owns Staples Center, plays a larger role in determining who is honored with a statue at the venue (others include Oscar De La Hoya and Wayne Gretzky) and when it is done.On the other issues, the Lakers have attributed Abdul-Jabbar’s reduced pay and role to Bynum’s belief that he didn’t need as much personal instruction.
Team officials also have noted that they give autonomy to head coaches in hiring their own assistants, and that players allocate playoff shares at their own discretion.In an interview with The Times two years ago, Lakers executive vice president Jeanie Buss indicated that honoring Abdul-Jabbar next with a statue would be a “natural fit.”
Said Buss: “Certainly Kareem stands among some of the greatest of all time.”