LeBron James is no longer a Laker, but his eight-year run in Los Angeles could still end with his jersey hanging in the rafters. The 22x All-Star closed that chapter this summer before joining the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2026-27 season. He left behind a championship, major scoring milestones and a long list of franchise records. Yet, the conversation remains about what honor he will ultimately get from the Purple and Gold franchise.

“I guarantee you, like, if you polled fans, they would not want LeBron’s number retired by the Lakers,” John Ireland, the longtime Lakers sportscaster for ESPN LA, recently discussed James’ legacy and the possibility of his number being retired. “But that doesn’t mean the Lakers won’t do it anyway.

“Like, for example, Karl Malone played one year for the Lakers. He is in the Hall of Fame. The Lakers did not retire his number because he didn’t really have a Hall of Fame career with the Lakers.”

That distinction gets to the heart of the debate around James. The Lakers have never treated their retired-number standard as a simple extension of Hall of Fame status. The question is not whether a player was great enough to enter Springfield, but whether enough of that greatness became part of the Lakers’ own history. Malone’s lone season in Los Angeles is the clearest example: an all-time NBA resume did not automatically become a Lakers resume.

Ireland also pointed to that eight-year run as the reason he expects the conversation to eventually settle in James’ favor.

“I think eventually, eventually, after the temperature comes down, LeBron gets his number retired by the Lakers.”

James’ case is fundamentally different from Malone’s because his Lakers resume is substantial on its own. Eight All-Star selections, a championship and multiple franchise milestones give Los Angeles a body of work that does not depend on what he accomplished elsewhere.

That makes the jersey-retirement question less about adding another superstar to the rafters and more about how the franchise ultimately weighs his eight seasons against its own historical standard.

Then the conversation also shifted towards if LeBron James will get a statue outside Crypto.Com Arena. Ireland’s co-host Mason drew that line clearly. “There are two levels here, right? There’s jersey retirement and statue. He will never have a statue. Ever.”

Now, LeBron James is no longer playing for the Lakers, so the franchise can now look at his entire Los Angeles tenure without wondering what might still be added to the résumé. The 2020 title remains the centerpiece, while his individual accomplishments gave the franchise plenty of moments to celebrate.

That also explains why jersey retirement and a statue should not be treated as interchangeable honors. A retired number can recognize a defining period of a player’s career with the franchise; a statue is closer to making that player a permanent symbol of the franchise itself. For the Lakers, where the outdoor statues represent some of the most deeply embedded figures in team history, that second threshold is considerably harder to clear.

A jersey retirement recognizes a player’s contribution to the franchise. A statue carries an even more exclusive standard, especially for the Purple and Gold franchise. The Lakers currently have statues honoring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.

Mason and Ireland also agreed that Anthony Davis would not receive a statue despite his importance to the Lakers’ 2020 championship team. But LeBron James previously backed AD that his jersey will hang in the rafters.

“AD will be up there when he’s done playing, and the number three will be up in the rafters as he continues to show why he’s one of the best players that we have in this league,” James said in 2023.

While Davis’ jersey retirement was backed by LeBron, the same honor for Bron was backed by the Lakers governor. Jeanie Buss already settled much of the jersey-retirement question in 2023.

“The standard for having your jersey retired as a Laker is when a player is inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Buss explained. “I have absolutely no doubt that LeBron will make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame. When he does so, then we will retire his jersey. Knowing that he will make it into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he will have his Lakers jersey retired, no doubt about it.”

There is also a useful league-wide context to James’ Lakers tenure. Like Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee and Nikola Jokic in Denver, James delivered one championship during his time as the franchise’s defining superstar.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has likewise brought one title to Oklahoma City, while Kawhi Leonard couldn’t even reach the Finals with the Clippers. The distinction for James is that his Lakers tenure combined that championship with eight All-Star selections and a series of franchise milestones, giving Los Angeles a sustained body of work rather than a title standing alone.

For the statue, Buss indicated earlier this year that the Lakers would not even seriously discuss that possibility while LeBron James was still playing.

“He (LeBron) is still playing, we don’t talk about statues till someone retires. He is playing great.”

Channing Frye, a former teammate of James, also explained why he won’t receive Crypto.com Arena.

“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,” Frye said.

His run in Los Angeles included eight straight All-Star selections over eight seasons, a championship in 2020, and the 2023 In-Season Tournament title. LeBron James also helped the Lakers snap a decade-long championship drought by winning the NBA’s 2020 Bubble Finals.

During his time in Los Angeles, he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the league’s all-time scoring leader. He later made history alongside his son, Bronny, becoming the first father-son duo to appear on the court together in an NBA game.