LeBron James is basically all anyone is allowed to talk about in 2025 and with good reason. He just turned 40, scored his 50,000th career point and is playing on one of the hottest teams in the NBA. There's plenty to talk about, but with 24 hours to fill every single day, sometimes people say some wild things.
On Thursday's episode of FS1's Speak, Paul Pierce, Keyshawn Johnson, Ric Bucher and T.J. Houshmandzadeh were discussing whether Luka Doncic could be an all-time Lakers great when Bucher took exception to the idea that James was an all-time Lakers great.
Eventually he was asked to give the minimum requirements for that status.
.@RicBucher: The entry fee to become a Lakers all-time great is 10 years of service and 3 championships.
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) March 6, 2025
"LeBron isn't an all-time Lakers great." pic.twitter.com/y3VSOuOE9f
Ten years and three championships. It's a very exclusive club that includes legends like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant. Then of course you've got some of the other guys who got to play with Magic and Kareem in the 80's like Michael Cooper and James Worthy and that's about it.
As O'Shea Jackson Jr. pointed out on social media, it leaves out a few legitimate Lakers greats.
Someone tell Jerry west family. Wilt chamberlain family. Gail
— O’Shea Jackson Jr (@OsheaJacksonJr) March 7, 2025
Goodrich. Pau Gasol. Elgin Baylor family. Bob Mcadoo and Jamal Wilkes that Ric Bucher says they aren’t Laker greats. https://t.co/LRQw5CO0JU
As you may have heard, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West literally have statues outside the Lakers arena, but West only won one title and Baylor, a Hall of Famer who spent his entire career with the Lakers, never won any.
Plus, you have two names that Jackson didn't even mention in Shaquille O'Neal and George Mikan. O'Neal, who also has a statue outside Crypto.com Arena, is apparently ineligible because he only played in L.A. for eight seasons. Mikan, who won five titles with the Minneapolis Lakers, only played professionally for seven seasons.
LeBron James, in his seventh season with the Lakers, is currently the 10th leading scorer in franchise history. He's also eighth in assists.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as O’Shea Jackson Jr. Calls Out Ric Bucher for Hot Take on LeBron and 'Lakers Greats'.
