RealGM

Who is the greatest center in Laker history not named Mikan, Wilt, Kareem, or Shaq?

The ones that come to mind are Elmore Smith and Vlade Divac. Maybe somebody from the 60's? Or a backup from the 80's behind Kareem?

Edit: Just read post. If you take out Shaq, Cap, Wilt, and MIkan it's going to have to go to either Vlade, Campbell, or Bynum. And Out of that group I guess it'd have to be andrew. Or maybe Pau since he played Center last year I guess.

MAD DOG MARK MADSON...........LOLLL
J/K......... I would say.
1. KAJ
2. Shaq

lol read the thread guys.

Theres a few that come to mind. Hairston maybe? Vlade Divac should be up there, but I do think Hairston put up better overall stats.

Kno wrote:lol read the thread guys.

Theres a few that come to mind. Hairston maybe? Vlade Divac should be up there, but I do think Hairston put up better overall stats.

LOLLLLLLL
I did read it Kno....... but honestly I dont think there is any other greats in the Lakers org....
I mean I was too young for Wilt , Mikan, and the ones I do recall would be Vlade, Perkins, Eldon. Shaq and K.A.J, but they are on the list.
So that leaves us with guys like Vlade, Perkins, Eldon C. etc were they greatest that I remember, No but they were good, not the best but they were okay centers.

andrew bynum

/thread

Bynum

Smrek... Remember him. He could dunk from the foul line, hit 3 pointers from anywhere.

Oh wait. That was a nightmare I had.

I go for Bynum.


Smrek

Kno wrote:lol read the thread guys.

Theres a few that come to mind. Hairston maybe? Vlade Divac should be up there, but I do think Hairston put up better overall stats.

Hairston was a 6'7" forward, Mel Counts was Wilt's backup. But Hairston did put up decent numbers for the Lakers.

Vlade Divac was pretty solid and then we had Bynum but we've been blessed with 4 really good centers who've served the franchise a long time that very few others do come to mind.

Bynum doesn't count yet imo. Way too small sample size.

Probably Divac. Hairston was a power forward.

Elmore Smith was here for only 2 years, but one of them he set the all time record for blocks in a single game and averaged 4.9 for the season to go with double digit rebounding and scoring. Kermit Washington was decent, but a role player, and leaning towards power forward. Same with Bob McAdoo who was a center earlier in his career, but mostly power forward when he played here.

Clyde Lovellette was pretty good here, but he only had 3 good years compared to Divac' 6 decent ones. Clyde was an all star one of the years where he averaged 21.5 points and 14.5 rebounds though, and Divac never made the all star team as a Laker.

I'm going with either Vlade or Clyde, but leaning towards Vlade a bit I think. Not a big fan of Campbell, so I wouldn't consider him at the top at all.

Pig Miller, j/k. I would have to say Pau Gasol just because of the Playoff run, but hopefully Bynum changes that sooner than later.

Vlade. Couldn't stand him with the Kings, but before that he was one of my favorites. Very skillful and underrated player. Had a couple of very solid 15/10 seasons for us. Plus, he netted Kobe, so he was not only good while here but especially on his way out.

If Campbell had had a pulse, it would have been him. But he was way too inconsistent and lethargic. Vlade played hard, which automatically makes him the better player, let alone on the basis of his superior skill level.

Very well supported statements on the Divac opinion, but I'm not to sure I'd put him in front of Pau. True that Divac had paid his dues early in his career for a mediocre Laker team, but there's one side of an argument that sold me on Pau being the better Laker center.

By the end of Pau's career, (atleast 4 seasons) he's going to be one of the biggest reasons for our success in the playoffs. So take last season for example, do you think if Divac and Pau switched places that he would make that same impact? Secondly, do you think Lakers of the early 90's would win more if they had Pau?

Ofcourse it's all theoretical, but that's the main thing that sold me on Pau as of today. We got out of the west with the addition of Pau alone (without Bynum) and we have a good chance of doing so for a number of years (even if Bynum wasn't in the picture). I can't say the same if we had Divac (prime or not).

^^ Good post. Pau should be counted in this discussion for the impact he provided last season alone.

Pau was very good, but generally I don't even consider players that haven't even played a full year for the franchise.

Pau does have a good chance to go down as the greatest power forward this franchise has had if he sticks in LA for a good while though.

Kareem, of course.

When healthy, Chris Mihm is among the best.

tkb wrote:Pau was very good, but generally I don't even consider players that haven't even played a full year for the franchise.

Pau does have a good chance to go down as the greatest power forward this franchise has had if he sticks in LA for a good while though.

That was my thinking, or rather lack of thinking, as well. Pau didn't even come to my mind, not only because we've only had him for half a season but because he was really playing out of position.

The impact of DJ last season. he finally got his contract for a year and drove us to the finals.