Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, an NBA icon, has attacked LeBron James, saying he should be ashamed of “some of the things he has said and done.”
Just before the Lakers’ 129-118 loss to the Denver Nuggets, Abdul-Jabbar questioned James’ social behavior, claiming that he had previously been caught “standing on both sides of the fence.”
“Some of the things he’s done and said, as far as I can tell, are really beneath him,” Abdul-Jabbar said to newsmen.
“Versus some of the great things that he’s done, he’s standing on both sides of the fence almost, you know? It makes it hard for me to accept that when he’s committed himself to a different take on everything. It’s hard to figure out where he’s standing. You’ve got to check him out every time.”
Abdul-Jabbar has in the past, criticized Lebron James, but the 74-year-old underlined that his comments should not be interpreted as “throwing stones.”
He said, “I admire the things that he’s done that have gotten all our attention.
“Sending a whole school to college? Wow. That’s amazing. His thoughtfulness and willingness to back it up with his wallet, you got to give him credit for that. So I’m not throwing stones. I just wish he wouldn’t, you know, some of the things he’s done, he should be embarrassed about. That’s just where I’m coming from.”
Abdul-Jabbar said this before handing Carmelo Anthony, James’ teammate, the new Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy, which celebrates the NBA’s Social Justice Champion for the 2020-21 season.