LeBron James‘ tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers ended after eight seasons in 2026, with the forward joining the Philadelphia 76ers. James has departed the Lakers with a mixed legacy, and there is a notion that he didn’t get the appreciation he deserved.
Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has had a lot to say about James in recent times, and he was asked during an interview with USA TODAY Sports how his former teammate’s time in Los Angeles will be remembered.
“It’s not underappreciated,” O’Neal said. “It’s called the business of basketball. They use you for what they can and then when it’s time for them to do something else, go do something else… Only a few players get to [stay], like Magic [Johnson] was lucky he got to stay there the whole time. Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] came in like I did and finished his career there. Kobe [Bryant] stayed there a long time.
“But the rest of us regular people, we come in, we do what we supposed to do,” O’Neal continued. “Hopefully we do it well so we can be remembered and then we move on. It’s no knock against LeBron… The good thing for LeBron, he did win one. Did win one. But you know Kareem got six, Magic got five, Kobe got five, I got four, [Kurt] Rambis got three. So, he’s at the party, but he’s not on stage.”
Now, that’s five names O’Neal mentioned above James there, but you’d imagine he doesn’t believe Kurt Rambis, who actually won four titles with the Lakers, is a top-five player in franchise history. The point is, though, that the 41-year-old didn’t win enough to be in that conversation.
James joined the Lakers in 2018 and led them to a championship in 2020. You’d have fancied his chances of winning another title or two at that point, but he didn’t even come close. James and the Lakers made it as far as the Western Conference Finals in 2023, and that was the only other occasion where they got past the second round.
James already wasn’t quite embraced by Lakers fans the way other icons had been in the past, in part because he was seen as Kobe Bryant’s rival. Los Angeles was Kobe’s town, and his diehard fans were never going to fully get behind LeBron.
The fact that James then only won one championship was always going to be held against him. Now, winning one would have been more than enough at most places, but not with the Lakers. They have won 17 championships, second-most in NBA history, and the standards are much higher.
Bryant, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar each won five titles with the Lakers. They won one, three, and three MVPs, respectively, too, during their time in Los Angeles.
As for O’Neal, he and Bryant led the Lakers to a historic three-peat from 2000 to 2002. The big man was named Finals MVP on all three occasions and won regular-season MVP in 2000 as well.
Despite accomplishing all this, O’Neal has said Lakers fans didn’t love him. The 54-year-old believes they loved Bryant, but not him. It’s not an easy fanbase to win over.
James had put up averages of 25.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in his Lakers career. That’s incredible, but not enough.
James is now with the 76ers, and he is going to get all the love he can get in Philadelphia. He’ll be backing himself to end their 43-year title drought. The reception James would get for winning one title in Philadelphia would be a whole lot different than in Los Angeles.
