The NBA’s all-time scoring leader is taking aim at the player who is expected to one day pass him. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is upset with LeBron James because of a meme the current Los Angeles Lakers’ star recently shared about COVID-19.

On Thursday, James posted a meme on his Instagram account that showed three Spidermen, which were labeled “COVID,” “cold” and “flu,” pointing at each other. James captioned the post “Help me out folks.”

In response, Abdul-Jabbar wrote a post called “Dear LeBron: Here’s the COVID-19 Help You Requested in Your Spider-Man Meme” on his Substack. The article claims that the decision to share the meme was a blow to James’ legacy and encourages “vaccine hesitancy which puts lives and livelihoods at risk.”

“One way to help the Black community to overcome their hesitancy and save lives is for prominent Black celebrities and influencers to continue to encourage everyone to get vaccinated and their boosters,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote. “Immunization, whether from vaccines or having had the disease, lessens over time and makes people vulnerable for reinfection.

“While LeBron is a necessary and dynamic voice critical of police brutality against the Black community, he needs to be the same necessary and dynamic advocate with vaccines, which could save thousands of Black lives right now. The racism is just as real—and just as lethal—in both cases.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 100 players are in the NBA’s health and safety protocols because of COVID-19. The league has reported that 97% of its players, including James, are vaccinated.

The U.S. is reporting 243,099 COVID-19 cases per day, the nation’s highest seven-day average since January when vaccines were only available to a small portion of the population.

With the Omicron variant sweeping through the nation, COVID-19 hospitalizations are down compared to prior waves of infection.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar helped lead UCLA to a three-year record of 88 wins and two losses from 1967-69. Getty Images
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