After their brief schism several months back after he had the temerity to offer righteous criticism of LeBron James, Kendrick Perkins has been back to towing the Klutch Sports line.
In his sermon from the Gospel of LeBron, Perkins asserted that James is well deserving of a statue outside of the Center formerly known as Staples.
Appearing on the Road Trippin podcast the subject came up and co-host Channing Frye said he did not believe that James should, offer his take, saying no. I’m not saying he shouldn’t deserve one, I’m saying he’s not going to get one. Lakers fans don’t accept him”
Perkins, in the emphatic defense of his benefactor demanded the Lakers immortalize James in bronze
“Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Jeanie Buss, make the s**t happen. F*ck what y’all talking bout, f*ck what the Laker Nation doesn’t accept and all that sh*t. Bron has spent 8 years playing for the Lakers [he’s won an] NBA championship, Final MVP, breaking all types of fuc*in records, scoring records at that. Imagine being in a Laker uniform and passing up Kobe on the all-time scoring list, and then passing up Kareem on the all-time scoring list, and then hitting fuc*in 40,000 [points] in a Laker uniform. Like no, bro, that man deserves a fuc*in statue in front of Crypto.com Arena. “
Perkins is engaging in the standard LeSychophant modus operandi: when the argument can’t be undergirded by winning/on court dominance, they will attempt to elevate the importance of statistical accumulation.
Statues of players have been reserved for a franchise’s crème de la crème, and while LeBron James is unassailably in that rarified air of all-time greats, when it comes to the pantheon of Laker greats he falls short.
A statue in Cleveland seems the most likely outcome of this scenario; frankly, the standard has not been met to warrant such a gesture in Los Angeles.
