Magic Johnson on LeBron James’s Legacy: ‘I Just Hope That He Gets Another Championship’

During an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Lakers legend Magic Johnson addressed LeBron James’s legacy as he approaches Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring mark. 

“The legacy is set in stone,” Johnson said. “I just hope that he gets another championship. I hope that he can compete.”  

James is currently the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer at 37,062 points. He is just 1,325 points behind Abdul-Jabbar. As long as he plays a 20th season in 2022–23, he will likely surpass the former Lakers big man for the top spot. 

James also has four NBA titles, still short of Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar, who were teammates for Los Angeles. A fifth championship would tie him with other all-time greats like Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. If he could get a sixth ring, he’d be on par with Michael Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson made it sound like adding some NBA titles to his trophy case could push James’s career to another level—specifically Jordan’s. 

“Michael Jordan is here, he’s [James] inching up there but his story is still being written so we have to see what happens,” he said. 

The Lakers (31–47) are currently the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference and out of the playoff picture. It’s highly unlikely James gets his fifth ring even if Los Angeles makes the postseason this year. 

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