Last summer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went public with his displeasure of his former employer. He told various outlets that he felt “slighted” that the Los Angeles Lakers had not erected a statue outside of Staples Center to honor his career. Abdul-Jabbar also went to Twitter saying things like, “An insult is an insult. If I didn’t speak up, no one would know how I feel about this.” Also adding, “It’s not about getting a statue because I’m over it – its about RESPECT! Lakers have given me the absolute minimum of respect.”
After several over the top tweets, he still had this beauty, “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.”
Keep in mind, the Lakers who “disrespected him” did pay him millions of dollars during his time as a player and also offered him a role as a special assistant when he voiced interest in coaching. Furthermore, once they were forced to respond to this ridiculous “look at me” request, they said he would be next in line for a statue outside of the arena.
After fairly pathetic measures, Abdul-Jabbar has now begun backtracking. When asked earlier this week about the Lakers/statue deal, he told 110SportsPodcast.com, “That was me getting a little bit too excited. It’s not a big issue and if it changes that’s great, if it doesn’t that is also okay. They say that I’ll be the next, so we’ll see.”
Kareem probably does deserve a statue, but pushing the Lakers into it will make it less special when the day arrives. Even though he has most recently characterized this as “not a big issue,” he has already forced the Lakers organization into an uncomfortable, unfortunate position. For a guy that is so large in stature, this seems to be so small and petty.
– For the full interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar listen to Episode 153 on 110SportsPodcast.com.
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110SportsPodcast.com features a weekly sports podcast and daily blogging. Episodes include interviews, entertainment, comedy, insight and analysis.
