Los Angeles Lakers are arguably one of the most successful franchises in NBA history. The Lakers have won 17 NBA Championships in total. Moreover, several generational talents have featured in the franchise, like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal. Notably, among them, James is all set to break a record surpassing former Lakers’ star Abdul-Jabbar. However, an NBA legend formerly associated with the Lakers made an audacious claim about Abdul Jabbar despite his praise for King James.

The Lakers are having a tough outing in the current season with a lot of injury issues and losing several close games. The purple and gold team is currently the 13th seed in the Western Conference with a 22-26 record. Moreover, the star player Anthony Davis had missed a considerable amount of games due to a foot injury. While the league had crossed the halfway mark, the fans seemed to expect a bounce back from the team. Additionally, former Lakers coach and current Miami Heat president Pat Riley expected the same.

Pat Riley picks Kareem over LeBron James as “The greatest”

According to an ESPN article, Pat Riley poured in heaps of praise for the Lakers legends Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James. However, the former Lakers coach seemed more impressed with the Skyhook than King James. He said, “We don’t win championships without the greatest player in the history of the game, who had the greatest weapon in the history of the game.” He also praised the legend for his dominance in the last moments of the game. Notably, the NBA named Riley as NBA Coach of the Year three times.  

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He further predicted the possibility of the Lakers winning the championship this season. He praised James for his hunger to win titles. Riley further added, “so for him [James] to continue to play at this level, with that hope that this team is going to come together out there and Anthony Davis gets back, I think they got a shot.” Notably, Riley claimed Skyhook as the greatest of time, despite James nearly surpassing his all-time NBA record.

James inches closer to creating history

The 4x NBA Champion is only 177 points short of breaking the record for most points scored in NBA history. Currently, Abdul-Jabbar holds the record with 38,387 in 1560 games. Notably, he had been holding this record since April 1984. However, the fans expect King James to beat the record next month.

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What do you make of Pat Riley’s statement? Let us know in the comments below!