Fire Kareem's Statue Dream

Kareem's greatness can't be denied, but his statue can be.

NBA legend and Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said recently that he wants a statue of himself outside the Staples Center, and while he probably deserves one based on his play, he most definitely doesn't based on his character.

Kareem said recently that the Lakers have either made "an oversight" or are taking his contributions to the franchise "for granted." He also said he is "highly offended by the total lack of acknowledgement of my contribution to Laker success."

The Lakers retired Kareem's number long ago, so that seems like a pretty clear acknowledgment of his contributions to the franchise, but since the big guy isn't satisfied with that, let's take a look at what he did in his career. He won 5 titles with the Lakers (6 total), he was a 6-time MVP, he is the all-time scoring leader in NBA history and he was selected to a record 19 all-star games. Based on that alone, he probably does warrant serious consideration for a statue. And who's to say he hasn't gotten that already?

The problem is, the Lakers shouldn't be honoring a guy who behaves the way Kareem has no matter how great he was. He has a pretty long history of legal trouble dating at least to the 1980s. In 1998 he was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2000 he was arrested for suspicion of driving while high on pot. In 2010 he was arrested again for suspicion of DUI.  As for more serious charges, Abdul-Jabbar was convicted of assault in 1989 after a shoving incident in a shopping mall. In 1997 he was sued for assault stemming from a disagreement over a parking space outside a yogurt shop. He eventually agreed to undergo counseling in exchange for the suit being dropped. Not one to miss out on the fun of suing someone, Kareem successfully sued ex-NFL player Karim Abdul-Jabbar because the football player had almost the same name and, well, he was born second. In 2010, Kareem filed suit against Upper Deck for using his likeness from his college days on a trading card in 2009-2010 without his permission.

The Staples Center currently has statues of Magic Johnson and Jerry West along with Wayne Gretzky, Chick Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya. Except for De La Hoya, who is really out of place in this group, the HR Department supports these statue selections. Magic was the face of the Lakers for a decade, and West is literally the face of the NBA (he inspired the league's iconic logo). Kareem was no less great as a player than either of those two.

Kareem should know, however, that nobody else ever asks for, let alone publicly demands, a statue. If you're at the point where you have to demand to be honored it's probably a sign that you don't deserve to be. If perfection were a requirement for recognition, nobody would get a statue. Kareem, however, has gone way beyond mere imperfection and doesn't deserve a life-size trophy.