With Kobe Bryant becoming the All-Time Lakers point leader the question of the greatest Laker of All-Time arises.
Greatest of All-Time?
How does one determine who should be the greatest of all-time? I wrote in my article – Kobe Bryant, greatest Laker ever? Not even close?: I would think this will be a combination of individual performances, championships, leadership, clutch play, toughness, resiliency and many other variables are a part of the “best ever” equation.
I believe the above criteria should be key to determining the answer to this question. Many people are trying to use other factors i.e. contribution to the teams community, likability, pretty much everything but performance on the court.
I believe off the court activities should be considered too but shouldn’t hold much weight, these are athletes and we are picking who was the greatest and not who was more like mother Teresa.
We all know who the Lakers greats are; Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and more, the question now is where does Kobe Bryant rank amongst these giants?
Here at A-List we have decided to judge Kobe Bryant 14 year’s stats as he’s final body of work as I only believe in comparing finished products. So Kobe might actually rise on this list when it’s all said and done.
And just to reiterate, our ranking is based on a combination of individual performances, championships, leadership, clutch play, toughness, resiliency and many other variables. But above all else, we are only considering their career when they were Lakers.
Here are the top 5 Lakers of All-Time (A-List Edition)
Before we start with the top five I have to mention these two Legends who couldn’t make the list but were amazing ball player. i added the reason these two legends were not in the top five.
Wilt Chamberlain – (Only played five seasons with the Lakers towards the end of he’s career and is responsible for bringing the first NBA Title to the Franchise. In my book the best center in NBA history)
Though Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain is best known for his time as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, this most dominant of all NBA big men spent the final 5 seasons of his legendary career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and his accomplishments while he was there were enough to earn him a spot as one of the top 10 greatest L.A. Lakers. Though his numbers weren’t quite as impressive as those he put up earlier in his career, Chamberlain was still putting points on the board, and he led the NBA in rebounding in 4 of the 5 seasons he was there. He captured his 2nd career NBA championship with the club in 1972, the first for the L.A. Lakers, with Chamberlain taking home NBA Finals MVP honors that season.
Elgin Baylor – (One of the greatest scorers in NBA history, but was unable to bring a title to the franchise but will rank above Chamberlain in any Lakers list as Elgin Baylor personified what it meant to be a for many years)
This Lakers’ legend was around before the team even arrived in Los Angeles, drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers with the number 1 pick in the 1958 draft. He wasted no time justifying his high drafting, averaging 24.9 points and 15 rebounds a game in his rookie campaign. He also poured in 55 points in a single game that year, the 3rd highest total in NBA history at that point. These achievements made him a no-brainer for rookie of the year that season, but he was just getting started.
He averaged well over 30 points a game for the next 3 seasons, including 38.3 ppg in the 1961-62 season, the highest season scoring average in history by anyone not named Wilt Chamberlain. He upped his 55 single game point mark with an incredible 71 point performance in 1960, setting an NBA record in the process, and his 61 point performance in the 1962 NBA finals remains the greatest single game total in NBA finals history.
Over his career he scored more than 23,000 points and pulled down over 11,000 rebounds, and those numbers might have been much higher had his career not been derailed by injuries. Sadly for Baylor he never achieved NBA championship glory, as the Lakers finally won it all the same season Baylor retired. Though he has that hole on his resume, his other achievements earn him a deserving spot at number 4 on the list of the top 10 Los Angeles Lakers of all time.
Our top 5
5 – Jerry West
This Los Angeles Laker legend is an automatic for a high spot on the list of the top 5 Los Angeles Lakers of all time. When the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, West was their first ever draft pick, taken 2nd overall that year, and his career numbers give testament that the team made a wise choice in selecting him that year. West is the 2nd leading scorer in the L.A. Lakers’ franchise with 25,192 career points .
His incredible 27.0 points-per-game career scoring average is 4th best in NBA history, and he was even more clutch in the playoffs with a 29.1 career ppg average, second all time behind some guy named Michael Jordan. He made the All-star game in all 14 of the seasons he played, won an NBA championship, and has an NBA Finals MVP award on his resume as well.
Truly one of the greatest L.A. Lakers ever, the Logo: Jerry West.
Kobe v West – They both managed to score 25,000 points in their 14th seasons with the Lakers, but Bryant has three more titles than West, in addition to winning an MVP award, something West was never able to accomplish.
4 – Shaquille O’Neal
Shaq made no secret of the fact that he wanted to be remembered as the most dominant big man in the history of the NBA and I will place him in a close 2nd or 3rd behind Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Every team Shaq went immediate became contenders and the Lakers were no different as he arrived in town coincidentally with the arrival of Kobe Bryant and the rest is history.
Shaq and his Lakers teammates would enjoy great regular season success for the next few years, but it took a few years for these gifted athletes to mesh together, but when they finally got it figured out, the Lakers led by Shaq’s dominant presence at center, achieved the rare Three-peat, winning back-to-back-to-back championships between 2000 & 2002. O’Neal finished his time in L.A. as one of the leading scorers in franchise history, amassing almost 14,000 points, very few of them from free throws, in his 8 seasons with the club.
3 – Kobe Bryant
Sorry Shaq fans, but Kobe has done more for LA Lakers. Bryant and O’Neal arrived in L.A. at the same time, and for a while there it looked as though Shaq would be remembered as the more dominant of the two, but while Shaq’s star is fading fast Kobe is just reaching his peak, leading his young Lakers’ team to another NBA Championship.
Kobe Bryant holds the Lakers record for scoring in a career, single season, and for one game. He also leads the Lakers in career three-point field goals made. Bryant is a 12-time all star, 2-time scoring champion, 7-time all-NBA first team selection, and 7-time all-NBA defensive team selection. He has also won 4 NBA Championships, and been named both Finals MVP and regular season MVP….
Even with all those super human stats, if he decided to call it a quits today he will not even be considered the best player in he’s generation. (Click here to read more)
2 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
This towering, lanky center is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and a huge reason the Lakers won 5 NBA Championships in the 1980s. Teamed with Magic Johnson, Kareem was simply unstoppable, pouring in huge points with his signature skyhook shot.
He had an immediate impact when he arrived in Los Angeles in the 1975-76 seasons, leading the team in scoring that year, and for the 10 seasons following as well. He was also defensive presence in the center for almost 20 seasons with the Lakers as he ranks 2nd in NBA history in blocked shots and 4th all time in rebounds, his 6 NBA MVP awards are the most in league history.
It’s next to impossible for Kobe to ever surpass this giant in any NBA ranking.
1 – Magic Johnson
Few players in the history of any sport have been more adept at making their teammates better than Magic Johnson. His incredible creativity, athleticism and vision on the court were truly a marvel to behold as he routinely “Went Globetrotter” on his opponents setting up his teammates with circus-style plays.
He was the key component in the Lakers offense during their dynastic years in the 1980s, leading the NBA in assists 5 times during that span. He had 24 assists in a single game on 3 separate occasions, including once in a playoff game (an NBA record). He won 3 MVP awards and 5 NBA Championships, and added over 17,000 points and 10,000 assists during his career.
These numbers would have been much higher if he didn’t retire at the prime of he’s career because of he’s discovery he was HIV. He was called Magic for a reason. He is simply the greatest Los Angeles Laker of all time.
Kobe v Magic – Magic reigns supreme in the championship department, trumping Kobe’s ring total by one, and truthfully, even if Bryant were able to surpass Magic in the title category he would probably still not be recognized as Lakers numero uno.
Magic may be the most complete player the game has ever seen, he was able to competently play all five positions on the court, and he was instrumental in helping to save the game during its bleakest hours.
His duel with Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics renewed interest in a game which had failed to connect with its fans, and was considered an inferior product compared to other professional sports.
His revolutionizing of the assist changed basketball, and his leadership in community business development has changed several inner cities. All this while serving as a worthy pioneer in the battle against the former stigma and shame associated with HIV.
In my personal opinion, Magic Johnson might actually be the greatest player to ever grace an NBA court.
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