Top 10 Lakers of All Time

[I_Love_This_Game!!]

RTNB posted their LA Lakers All-Time Player Pyramid on Twitter.

Here's the link:

Read on Twitter

/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1164258795587100672&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fnba

Their top 10 Lakers of all time, in order, are:

1. Kobe Bryant
2. Shaquille O'Neil
3. Magic Johnson
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5. George Mikan
6. James Worthy
7. Wilt Chamberlain
8. Jerry West
9. Elgin Baylor
10. Jamaal Wilkes

I think this is way off! Here's my list:

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Magic Johnson
4. Shaquille O'Neil
5. George Mikan
6. Jerry West
7. Wilt Chamberlain
8. Elgin Baylor
9. James Worthy
10. Gail Goodrich

What is your list?

[Kilroy]

There's a lot of ways to weight that list... Greatest individual player ever, greatest career, greatest impact to the org, etc...

I can't argue with your list...
I will say this though... As much of a douche as Magic is right now, I think he's pretty under-rated as a player... There has been no one before or since who played the game the way he did, at the level he did... And from an impact to the Lakers Org and legacy standpoint, no player has had a bigger impact. Magic, the way he played the game and his personality, basically made the Lakers what they are. Kobe continued the legacy, but some may argue, diminished it. Magic was the freaking golden boy of all sports during his prime... Rivaling Ali for popularity... And he only played for the Lakers, and has helped out throughout the years... He's pretty much the prototype for Franchise Player in the NBA if not for all sports.

Kareem was the best player to ever play for the lakers if not to ever play the game, so from that perspective, he's the greatest...
Kobe had the longest single career and provided the longest, high level of play... And he and Shaq built Staples.
Before Magic, and MJ, West was the face of the NBA...

There's just a whole lot of Great in that list... Picking #1 does nothing but diminish legacies rather that elevate them.

[Beethoven]

My favorite most dominant player of all time shaq and my most favorite laker of all time kobe are 1 and 2 for me. Interchangeable.
I don't know how that pyramid even contains Bynum or Dwight. Those two are just afterthought. Wisps in the wind.

[Landsberger]

Yup.... depends on how you cut it. Kareem was the greatest player and not just for the Lakers. Magic helped save the league with his persona (while that same persona nearly killed the lakers over the last 2 years but good with the bad...). Kobe was polarizing but was a Laker longer than anyone else and possibly the best scorer ever. Baylor changed the way the game was played and was waaaay ahead of his time. West was never spectacular but was always great. Goodrich got lost on some less that great teams in the 70's but was very good as well.

For me when you have a guy who stepped back and let Magic be the face of the franchise while still dominating into his late 30's the way he did it's got to be Kareem. Because he never sought the limelight I think he gets overlooked in these conversations. His season at 38 years old is still amazing to me. He averaged 35ppg against Hakeem and Sampson that year in 6 games with 3 40 point games.

Shaq, to me, wasn't here long enough to in the top 2 tiers and the way he left was more about me than us. I'd put West and Baylor in that second slot on the Pyramid over him.

[dAdo dA dEvil]

1. Kobe
2. Magic
3. Kareem

That should be on top of my list.

[zimpy27]

Reposting this from general board. this is a combination based on how many years they led the team, the success of the team and the stats they put up.

2: Magic, Kobe
4: Mikan, KAJ, West, Shaq
6: Baylor, Wilt, Worthy, Gasol, LeBron*, AD*
8: Goodrich, Wilkes, Lovellette, Divac, Nixon, Cooper, Scott, Mikkelsen
10: Ceballos, Odom, Fisher, Hairston, AC Green, Horry, Allen, Jones, Van Exel, LaRusso

*if they win a championship and if AD re-signs to stay at least 5 years. Assuming similar stats level for next 3 years.

Wasn't sure on projecting Kuzma, but I would guess he beatsnout Lovellette if he plays for 7 years and wins a championship.

[NY 567]

I'm an outsider, so perhaps I might be off base here, but it seems very wrong to me that Kobe would be a tier ahead of Magic and even worse, that Pau Gasol would be on the same tier as Derek Fisher.

[Landsberger]

Reposting this from general board. this is a combination based on how many years they led the team, the success of the team and the stats they put up.

2: Magic, Kobe
4: Mikan, KAJ, West, Shaq
6: Baylor, Wilt, Worthy, Gasol, LeBron*, AD*
8: Goodrich, Wilkes, Lovellette, Divac, Nixon, Cooper, Scott, Mikkelsen
10: Ceballos, Odom, Fisher, Hairston, AC Green, Horry, Allen, Jones, Van Exel, LaRusso

*if they win a championship and if AD re-signs to stay at least 5 years. Assuming similar stats level for next 3 years.

Wasn't sure on projecting Kuzma, but I would guess he beatsnout Lovellette if he plays for 7 years and wins a championship.

This is my issue with basing things on stats. What do individual stats have to do with team success? How many scoring leaders win championships.... assist leaders for that matter.

Who scored when the game was on the line in the 4th vs who scored the most. That's how successful teams should view their players IMHO.

Magic was amazing but at times, especially in the playoffs early in his career, he really killed us. OTOH, Kareem was the rudder and typically finished off the big wins.
One of the unsung hero's of the mid to late 80's was Scott. He, in many ways, was every bit as valuable in the playoffs as Worthy for example. Not going to find that in the stats. What if Fisher doesn't have huge games in Boston and Orlando?

As Lakers, I still think Kareem is the best overall player we've ever had (that's easy for me because I think he's the best ever anywhere). Kobe and Magic are right there but behind him. Putting Shaq in the same tier with Kareem is really a stretch for me. He didn't have a complete game and definitely was a guy you tossed the ball to in isolation with a 1 point lead with under 2 minutes left. They often played keep away with him because of his FT shooting late in games. Dominant in some respects but flawed in others.

[Michael Lucky]

Where the hell are Smush and Kwame?

[dAdo dA dEvil]

I'm an outsider, so perhaps I might be off base here, but it seems very wrong to me that Kobe would be a tier ahead of Magic and even worse, that Pau Gasol would be on the same tier as Derek Fisher.

I put Kobe above Magic because he's been a Laker longer and I feel that Kobe has more accomplishments. Pau is the better player compared to Fisher but I think you also have to consider Fisher's contribution in winning that 5 championship along side Kobe. Fisher is also clutch when needed. Pau has been the second best player in the Lakers' last 2 championships but Fish has been around the 5 so I think it's quite reasonable you put them in the same tier. Personally, I think Pau should definitely on a higher tier.

[MAMBAEMD]

Kareem
Kobe
Magic
Shaq
West
Wilt
Baylor
Worthy
Pau
Mikan

Top 3 fairly interchangeable, but it is hard to argue with Kareem being the best ever.
I saw all play except Mikan, Wilt, and West.

Wow! What a group.

[dice]

jerry west was better than kobe and it's not particularly close. better defender (kobe very overrated on that end), MUCH better scorer and FAR more clutch. TWICE led league in scoring efficiency from the guard position with NO THREE POINT LINE. absurdly dominant. russell's celtics had his number and there's no shame in that. west is the damn logo. such disrespect

not a very good stat, but the best available single number comparison between the eras is win shares. west had 162.6 in 14 seasons (peak 17.1). kobe had 172.7 in 20 seasons (peak 15.3)

that's not even factoring in his front office contributions

magic was significantly better too, btw

even if you want to overweight ring totals, kobe was only batman on 2 title teams. and pau was of comparable value those 2 years

[MAMBAEMD]

jerry west was better than kobe and it's not particularly close. better defender (kobe very overrated on that end), MUCH better scorer and FAR more clutch. TWICE led league in scoring efficiency from the guard position with NO THREE POINT LINE. absurdly dominant. russell's celtics had his number and there's no shame in that. west is the damn logo. such disrespect

not a very good stat, but the best available single number comparison between the eras is win shares. west had 162.6 in 14 seasons (peak 17.1). kobe had 172.7 in 20 seasons (peak 15.3)

that's not even factoring in his front office contributions

magic was significantly better too, btw

even if you want to overweight ring totals, kobe was only batman on 2 title teams. and pau was of comparable value those 2 years

Fair points although I still disagree that West was a better player than Kobe. Still a very difficult comparison due to the different eras of ball. And win shares is a reasonable advanced stat but really difficult to apply when the eras of ball and competition are so vastly different.

Question for you: if you asked West himself, who do you think he'd say is a better player? West or Kobe?

[dice]

jerry west was better than kobe and it's not particularly close. better defender (kobe very overrated on that end), MUCH better scorer and FAR more clutch. TWICE led league in scoring efficiency from the guard position with NO THREE POINT LINE. absurdly dominant. russell's celtics had his number and there's no shame in that. west is the damn logo. such disrespect

not a very good stat, but the best available single number comparison between the eras is win shares. west had 162.6 in 14 seasons (peak 17.1). kobe had 172.7 in 20 seasons (peak 15.3)

that's not even factoring in his front office contributions

magic was significantly better too, btw

even if you want to overweight ring totals, kobe was only batman on 2 title teams. and pau was of comparable value those 2 years

Fair points although I still disagree that West was a better player than Kobe. Still a very difficult comparison due to the different eras of ball. And win shares is a reasonable advanced stat but really difficult to apply when the eras of ball and competition are so vastly different.

Question for you: if you asked West himself, who do you think he'd say is a better player? West or Kobe?

he's already said kobe. because he's a modest SOB and he was always devastated that he didn't win more rings, so he probably over-values that like most everyone else seems to. magic has also said that kobe was better. that one's a tougher comparison in my mind because their roles were more different and magic wasn't much of a defender. but he was the straw that stirred one of the best offenses in league history. always made the right play, selfless, everything kobe was not. pure genius

[stan francisco]

Here's my list:

1. Magic Johnson
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3. Jerry West
4. Kobe Bryant
5. Shaquille O'Neil
6. George Mikan
7. Wilt Chamberlain
8. Elgin Baylor
9. James Worthy
10. LeBron James (edit: even w/o winning chips for the Lakeshow, he’s in the top ten best players to have dawned the jersey)

[thebigbird]

I've got:

1. Magic Johnson
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3. Shaquille O'Neal
4. Jerry West
5. Kobe Bryant
6. Wilt Chamberlain
7. Elgin Baylor
8. George Mikan
9. James Worthy
10. Gail Goodrich

Hope LeBron can make his way onto the list over the next few seasons.

[50CalClips]

All-Time in Total WinShare with Lakers:

1 - Kobe - 172.7 (20 yrs)
-----
2 - West - 162.6 (14 yrs)
3 - Kareem - 158.7 (14 yrs)
4 - Magic - 155.8 (13 yrs)
-----
5 - Mikan - I08.7 (7 yrs)
6 - Baylor - 103.6* (12 yrs*)... or 104.2 in 14 yrs
7 - Shaq - 97.0 (8 yrs)
-----
8 - Vern Mikkelsen - 83.4 (10 yrs)
9 - Worthy - 81.2 (12 yrs)
-----
10 - Byron - 65.8 (11 yrs)
11 - A.C. - 64.4 (9 yrs)
12 - Wilt - 63.6 (5 yrs)


Others -
?? - Gasol - 59.2 (7 yrs)
?? - Goodrich - 56.4 (9 yrs)
?? - Odom - 53.0 (7 yrs)
?? - Cooper - 52.5 (12 yrs)
?? - Wilkes - 50.6 (8 yrs)
?? - Fisher - 45.3 (13 yrs)
?? - Campbell - 35.5 (9 yrs)
?? - Eddie Jones - 33.5 (5 yrs)
?? - Ceballos - 15.3 (3yrs)
?? - Dantley - 13.4 (2 yrs)
?? - Kuzma - 7.0 (2 yrs)
?? - Lebron - 2.6 (1 yr)


https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/

[Wavy Q]

The youngest people who grew up watching Magic are like, in their 50's-60s now. Whether right or wrong this list will be Kobe dominant in 10-20 years.

[Landsberger]

The youngest people who grew up watching Magic are like, in their 50's-60s now. Whether right or wrong this list will be Kobe dominant in 10-20 years.

Yup.... look no further than Vern Mikkelsen to see that. He was a very dominant PF in his day and not many fans alive today every saw him play.... and no.... I'm not that old!

[dho4ever]

Why is Kobe rated higher when consensus wise Magic is a better player on the all time ratings?
I understand Kareem can be rated lower due to his career spanning another team when he was in his prime.

In other words, if you think Kobe is a better "Laker" than Magic, would you also rate Kobe above Magic in your all time rankings, consider both played their entire career for the lakers?