Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers?

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Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#1 » by BigtimeNBAfan » Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:32 am

1950's - George Mikan
1960's - Wilt Chamberlain
1970's Kareem Abdul Jabbar
1980's - Magic Johnson
1990's - Michael Jordan (Obviously did not play for the Lakers)
2000's - Kobe Bryant
2010's - Lebron James


Pretty insane that a case could be made one team had the best player of every decade other than one suit up for them.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#2 » by Stan » Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:37 am

Imo Duncan was the best player of the 2000's, but obviously it's very close with Kobe
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#3 » by Pennebaker » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:01 am

BigtimeNBAfan wrote:1950's - George Mikan
1960's - Wilt Chamberlain
1970's Kareem Abdul Jabbar
1980's - Magic Johnson
1990's - Michael Jordan (Obviously did not play for the Lakers)
2000's - Kobe Bryant
2010's - Lebron James


Pretty insane that a case could be made one team had the best player of every decade other than one suit up for them.


Kobe was absolutely not the best player of the 2000s.

From 2005 to 2010 the best player in the NBA was LeBron James (scoring champion [2007-08], NBA Finals [2006-07], 2x MVP [2008-09, 2009-10], 1x MVP runner up [2005-06], 1x DPOY runner up [2009-10]).

Duncan is in the mix somewhere and also ahead Kobe. Shaq in the early 2000s was also ahead of Kobe.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#4 » by babyjax13 » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:09 am

Even if some of the players were not 'the best', they were at least top 3, and that is pretty amazing. e.g. I could see the argument for Bird > Magic (I disagree) or Duncan/Garnett/Shaq/LeBron/Dirk over Kobe (also, don't think I agree). In the 90s they also had Shaq (top 3?), and Magic (started top 3, obviously a pretty messed up hiatus).
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#5 » by Joao Saraiva » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:15 am

A case can be made.

Mikan is a no brainer.

Wilt Chamberlain can be considered the best player of his decade. Altough Russell has more than a case. I believe both have a GOAT case, so it's not too much saying Wilt was the best of the decade.

KAJ is a no brainer.

Magic has Bird as a rival. I rank Magic higher, but there is a case for Bird.

In the 90s Jordan was obviously the best.

The 00s... Shaq was greater than Kobe in the begining. But he became a bit irrelevant since 07. So is it enough to say Kobe was better than him? However Duncan was never irrelevant and the way I see it he peaked higher than Kobe (2003 being Duncan's peak). Duncan slowed down a bit in the end of that decade, but he was still great. I'd put him ahead of Kobe but putting Kobe ahead of him is possible, even if by a slim margin. LeBron has no case. Started almost at the middle of the decade and his rookie year holds no value in comparison to any of Kobe's seasons from 01 to 10.

In the 10s... yes LBJ is the best player.

Might be possible that the Lakers had the best player of the decade on their team in all of them except the 90s.

It's more accurate to say they had at least the best player on their team in the 50s, 70s, 80s and 10s. (I say Bird has a case, but not a big one).

KAJ and LeBron only played the end of the decade for them tough.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#6 » by SmashMouthRod » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:30 am

BigtimeNBAfan wrote:1950's - George Mikan
1960's - Wilt Chamberlain
1970's Kareem Abdul Jabbar
1980's - Magic Johnson
1990's - Michael Jordan (Obviously did not play for the Lakers)
2000's - Kobe Bryant
2010's - Lebron James


Pretty insane that a case could be made one team had the best player of every decade other than one suit up for them.


Im not sure Kobe was the best player of that decade in the 2000's. Although I can see the argument considering the Lakers made the finals 7 times within that time frame. The first four finals trips (winning 3) included Shaquille O'Neal that many consider the franchise player. Kobe didnt breakthrough to win the chip as the defacto franchise player without Shaq until 2009 and 2010. I would put Duncan as the player of the decade before I would choose Kobe. Spurs won chips in 2003, 2005 and 2007 with Duncan as the franchise player. If you want to say Shaq that could be different argument.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#7 » by HoopsterJones » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:32 am

You can argue Shaq or Duncan as the best in the 2000s before Kobe. So yeah. All but the 90s.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#8 » by Cavsfansince84 » Thu Mar 26, 2020 1:36 am

You could make a case as the op has but at the same time Wilt only played one year of the 60's for the Lakers and its arguable whether he was the best player in the league at the time and LeBron only played one season of the 10's for the Lakers so its sort of irrelevant in relation to them being the best players in the league during those decades. You could also easily argue Bird ahead of Magic for the 80's and I think he probably was. I don't think Magic was truly on Bird's level until about 85.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#9 » by elBJ » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:01 am

There is no way around Russel with 9/10 championships that decade, so a clear cut no!!! :crazy:
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#10 » by Bornstellar » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:09 am

Tim Duncan was the best player of the 2000s tbh. So him and Jordan, but other than that yeah
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#11 » by snaquille oatmeal » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:17 am

BigtimeNBAfan wrote:1950's - George Mikan
1960's - Wilt Chamberlain
1970's Kareem Abdul Jabbar
1980's - Magic Johnson
1990's - Michael Jordan (Obviously did not play for the Lakers)
2000's - Kobe Bryant
2010's - Lebron James


Pretty insane that a case could be made one team had the best player of every decade other than one suit up for them.

Late 90’s Shaq???
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#12 » by snaquille oatmeal » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:21 am

elBJ wrote:There is no way around Russel with 9/10 championships that decade, so a clear cut no!!! :crazy:

Don’t mean to knock any individual player involved, but the Celtics had a better overall team than wilt and Jerry West so it wasn’t Russell above everyone else in the 60’s.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#13 » by Jayt99 » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:27 am

Does Lebron really count for LA? By the time he joined the lakers who wasn't the best player in the world anymore
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#14 » by DavidSterned » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:32 am

No.

Dolph Schayes was probably the best player in the 1950s (Mikan didn't even play the 2nd half of the decade).

Bill Russell is probably the best player in the 1960s.

Tim Duncan is probably the best player in the 2000s.

And Larry Bird has a pretty good argument over Magic for the 80s. I have him as the better player in 6/10 years that decade.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#15 » by His Airness 23 » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:44 am

2000s was Tim Duncan, 1980s was Larry Bird
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#16 » by ForeverTFC » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:51 am

Jayt99 wrote:Does Lebron really count for LA? By the time he joined the lakers who wasn't the best player in the world anymore


He's arguably still the best player in the league today with only Giannis and Kawhi having any argument for that spot.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#17 » by NPZ » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:55 am

You guys ought to predict the next one(s) who are gonna play there in the 20s. Mind you, a decade is 10 years and you could be talking about 2028/2029 even if you expect LAL to slump during the early-mid decade. Maybe in 2010, you weren't expecting Brawn to join the Lakers, but by 2018, he did. Ben Simmons I think is a possibility based on his earlier want to be drafted by them. Not sayin he's the best player of a decade type, but he's a big name at least. That's how Shaq and Kobe wound up there, they both started off as Laker fans. I realize Kobe was traded, but Kobe's kamp used leverage not to go to Charlotte or NJ.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#18 » by Hroz » Thu Mar 26, 2020 4:03 am

That's an awesome list

60s is probably Russell. But you can make an argument for Wilt.
80s opposite of the 60s it's probably Magic but you can make an argument for Bird.
Also 2000s it's Kobe Shaq or Duncan so you have 67%. Chance of being right.
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#19 » by Triples333 » Thu Mar 26, 2020 5:55 am

BigtimeNBAfan wrote:1950's - George Mikan
1960's - Wilt Chamberlain
1970's Kareem Abdul Jabbar
1980's - Magic Johnson
1990's - Michael Jordan (Obviously did not play for the Lakers)
2000's - Kobe Bryant
2010's - Lebron James


Pretty insane that a case could be made one team had the best player of every decade other than one suit up for them.


1950's: Neil Johnston - Warriors
1960's: Bill Russell - Celtics or Wilt - Warriors > Sixers > 1 year in LA
1970's: Kareem - Bucks majority then Lakers
1980's: Larry Bird - Celtics
1990's: Jordan - Bulls
2000's: Duncan - Spurs
2010's: Lebron - Heat > Cavs > Lakers or Curry - Warriors

Interestingly you can argue they have not had a player who was a majority Laker be the best player of any decade when you look at it (I know you did say "suit up").
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Re: Has the best player of every decade other than the 90's played for the Lakers? 

Post#20 » by Dupp » Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:48 am

Duncan and Russell so no.

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