Gilbert Arenas On LeBron James: 'He's A Rental For Lakers Greatness...'

Speaking on the NightCap podcast, former NBA point guard Gilbert Arenas explained why LeBron James, fresh off an amazing performance for the Lakers, will never reach the heights of other franchise greats like Kobe Bryant or Magic Johnson. 

"Reality his first week here," said Arenas. "LeBron was a rental for Lakers greatness and that's just something he's gonna have to accept. His milestone came in this uniform, but the legacy wasn't built here. LeBron James' Laker resume doesn't have a statue here... LeBron James the name, f--- yeah has a statue."

LeBron James joined a Lakers team that was completely irrelevant a the time. His arrival changed their expectations overnight, and suddenly, they found themselves in back the fight for a championship. Even so, LeBron had suspicions from the very beginning that Lakers fans would never truly embrace him and those doubts still remain even after winning the championship in 2020. It seems, to some degree, those suspicions were accurate.

For 10+ years leading up to his arrival, LeBron was considered the enemy of Lakers fans, and his status as the best player in the world meant that he was the biggest obstacle on the path to success. So when he joined the team in 2018, there was a considerable portion of fans in the city who rejected the partnership.

Today, James has won over the vast majority of Lakers fans and he felt that during the celebrations of his 40,000-point milestone. In the end, however, even the past five and half years are just a blimp of LeBron's career and only a small portion of Kobe's 20-year stint with the franchise.

LeBron And The Lakers Have Unfinished Business

This summer, with a looming decision in the offseason, the future has never been more uncertain for LeBron and it seems even the Lakers have no clue what might happen next. At 39 years old, LeBron is within his rights to retire and walk away from the game completely, or he could stick around to fulfill the dream of playing with his son.

But if James wants to leave a bigger stamp on Lakers history, and truly cement himself as a franchise legend, he might be better off sticking around to make one last title run. With averages of 25.3 points, 8.0 assists, and 7.1 rebounds per game on 52.8% shooting, James is proving this season that he's not done yet being one of the best players in the league.

This season, at 10th in the standings, the odds don't look good for the Lakers to make a deep playoff run but they've done it before and they've looked a lot better recently as winners of 6 in their last 10 games.

In April, the Lakers will have a dogfight just to even make the first round but with James playing like this, and Anony Davis at least somewhat healthy, they have a chance to beat any team in the league.

With a fifth title, and his second as a Laker, perhaps it would be the last thing LeBron needs to not only cement this legacy as the GOAT but also as a franchise legend on par with the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and No. 24 himself.