Post#5 » by HeartBreakKid » Sat May 22, 2021 3:57 pm
1) 2020 Lebron James - So originally I was going to lazily go with 00 Shaq because that's like, his thing, the peak player. All of Shaq's main competition, players who I think may have peaked higher all had better primes in other franchises (Kareem, James, Chamberlain). Then I thought about it a bit more and realized Kareem and James are still really damn close to their "peak" seasons even as a Laker. I also think Shaq's offensive dominance is (slightly) overblown, yes, he did score at will, but so did many other great Lakers. Shaq is unstoppable but largely stuck in one part of the court, while others are basically also unstoppable and can play from further, or in the case of James he can control the flow of things (since he is a point guard). I also am not convinced that 00 O'Neal is a better defender than Laker Kareem or James, and think some of Shaq's defensive reputation may have been over blown since people see that as a semi-outlier season on defense. Long story short, I think James is #1 because of his ability to play point guard, and his scoring doesn't really fall behind Shaq or Kareem much in the post season, and there is a very large sample size even outside of 2020 that would show that that is true. Defensively, James was quite good, and likely not far behind O'Neal, if at all.
2) 1979 Kareem Abdul-Jabar - The mainstream audience often forgets and underrates Kareem as a Buck, while perhaps more hardcore audiences forget that Kareem joined the Lakers in what is usually a b-ball players peak years (28 years old). The guy was just as good as a Laker as he was on the Bucks, just the Lakers weren't that good until they got Magic Johnson. If Magic had joined in the league 1979 the Lakers probably get mega deep or win that year also. Kareem also gets punished a bit as the "longevity" guy, while Shaq is seen as the peak guy - but really, at their apex, I don't see what Shaq does that Kareem can't duplicate albeit through different means. Unstoppable scoring? Kareem has many years of doing that - in the post season his efficiency and scoring go way up. Passing? Kareem is just as good. Range? Kareem kills Shaq even if Kareem is not a "stretch big". Kareem is just way more versatile. But ultimately, the separation comes from me thinking Kareem is just another tier of defender than O'Neal. Kareem was very nimble and fluid, and he still was like that on the Lakers, many people him either as an old man or the younger version as a weak guy physically who can get beat up by Moses and Walton (not really true). Kareem was on another tier of defender from O'Neal (and James). I give James the nod over him because James is a ball handler and great floor general.
3)2000 Shaquile O'Neal - I wrote a lot about him in my first 2 posts. So while Kareem and James have non-peak years as Lakers comparable if not better than O'Neal, I don't feel the same for Chamberlain. Chamberlain's agility and springiness which I think was his best athletic attribute in conjunction with his reach was gone during his time as a Laker. I don't think Chamberlain is dynamic enough to crack the top 3, and I have him in another tier.
4) 1966 Jerry West - I was going back and forth between him and Chamberlain. I've always thought the Lakers as "Chamberlain's" team, but it's worth noting that when Wilt was injured in 1970, the Lakers were worse defensively but still more than competent (actually had a better defensive rating, just worse rank). Chamberlain might have really just became better later as he got even more older, it seems like how he is coached makes a big difference in his impact - and by the time Chamberlain had won a title he certainly was better than West (especially in the post season). Jerry West is a true nuclear scorer, the more I think about it, he might even be better than James...I mean he's basically as good as peak Oscar Robertson, and he routinely had 40 point games in the playoffs hyper efficiency for a guard of his era. If he had a 3 point line, it'd be over. In addition, he was an incredible perimeter defender. I think his playoff ability is just too good to pass up, it's almost icing on the cake that the guy could grab 9 apg per game if he felt like playing with the ball. Personally feel compared to West's big shooting, defense and even overall scoring Magic's all time playmaking and outlier rebounding isn't enough.
5)1972 Wilt Chamberlain - When I think of Chamberlain's scary dominance I think of him more as a defender, this even includes him as a Sixer. I think Chamberlain had a hard time finding himself as a Laker. This is an all time great defensive season, at least people from back in the day claim, and Chamberlain does everything you need him to do - his volume is low because it's not necessary, but his scoring impact is still felt. He's the best defender here, but I'm not sure if it's enough to over come peak West's incredible versatility. I don't think Magic gives you quite as much overall post season dominance (though still incredible and resilient in his own right) as Jerry, so I'll lean more toward the defensive two way big (even if he is low volume) over Magic.
I'm heavily considering Kareem at #1.
I also hope people take a good look at 60s Jerry West. I might even be underselling him still. Prior to this year, I did not think West was THAT good (a bit better than Bryant), but after I saw West place higher than Big O in the top 100 this year, I started to think more about how good he actually is and maybe it's not a given that Oscar was better (I had always assumed Oscar had the GOAT guard peak after Jordan up to that point).
