Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is finally getting an honor he brazenly feels he deserves: He'll be immortalized in bronze in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the Lakers intend to unveil a statue of the NBA's all-time leading scorer outside the Staples Center at some point during the upcoming season.
In May 2011, Abdul-Jabbar told The Sporting News he felt disrespected by his former team for not creating a statue of him outside its home arena. There are currently five men who are cast in bronze on Star Plaza: Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Chick Hearn, Wayne Gretzky and Oscar De La Hoya.
"I don't understand (it). It's either an oversight or they're taking me for granted," Abdul-Jabbar said last year. "I'm not going to try to read people's minds, but it doesn't make me happy. It's definitely a slight. I feel slighted."
The Hall of Fame center later told the magazine, through a statement shared by his business manager, that he was "highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success. I guess being the lynchpin for five world championships is not considered significant enough in terms of being part of Laker history."
The Lakers later said that they weren't sure when they would erect a new statue, but that Abdul-Jabbar would be next in line.
Abdul-Jabbar took that news with a grain of salt. On May 18, 2011 he tweeted "Rumor has it that I will be getting a statue. A caveat for all my fans - don't hold your breath. Lakers don't care about me."
Abdul-Jabbar, 65, finished his career with 38,387 points and 17,440 rebounds, which is the fourth most all time. In addition to the five NBA titles he won with the Lakers in the 1980s, he won his first with Milwaukee in 1971.
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