With the NBA season on indefinite hold, we'll take the month of April to celebrate the life and career of Kobe Bryant, who passed away earlier this year. Kobe Month concludes with a ranking of the all-time greatest Lakers, from their early days in Minnesota to their Showtime heyday to their Bryant years.
Editor's note: this list takes into account only a player's time on the Lakers, not the rest of their career with other franchises.
31) Elden Campbell, 1990-1999
While many Lakers fans think of Campbell as a disappointing underachiever, feuding with coaches and teammates and almost constantly injured, he was actually the team's leading scorer for the '90s and is still third in franchise history in total blocks. Though in and out of the lineup regularly with back issues, Campbell was the starting center or power forward for seven seasons for Los Angeles before his inability to click with Shaquille O'Neal forced the team's hand. They traded him to the Hornets in 1999 as part of the Glen Rice deal and Campbell got some measure of revenge in 2004, when he played some minutes off the bench for the Pistons as they stunned O'Neal and Los Angeles in the NBA Finals.
30) Leroy Ellis, 1962-1966 and 1971-1972
A first round pick in 1962, Ellis immediately took over as the Lakers' starting center, slotting into the front court with Elgin Baylor and Rudy LaRusso. He was part of the teams that lost to the Celtics in the 1963, 1965, and 1966 NBA Finals before losing his job to Darrall Imhoff and getting traded to the Bullets. After a few seasons with Baltimore and brief star turn on the original Trail Blazers, Ellis returned to the Lakers right on time for the historic '71-'72 title season, this time as a backup to Wilt Chamberlain.
29) Vlade Divac, 1989-1996
No one expected a young Serbian first round pick in 1989 to be an heir apparent to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Divac never reached that status, but he certainly didn't disappoint either. He backed up Mychal Thompson in '89-'90 and earned 1st-Team All-Rookie honors, then took over as the starter in '90-'91, leading the Lakers in blocks, finishing fourth in scoring, and third in rebounding, as they reached the last NBA Finals of the Showtime era. Divac became a key face of the franchise after Magic Johnson's surprise retirement but also struggled over the next few seasons with injuries. Once Shaquille O'Neal joined the roster in 1996, Divac was expendable and was quickly traded to the Hornets for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant. After several seasons with the Hornets and rival Kings, he finished out his career with Los Angeles in '04-'05.
28) Eddie Jones, 1994-1999
27) Nick Van Exel, 1993-1998
They were the starting back court of the young, talented Lakers core that was going to revive the franchise post-Showtime, but quickly became obsolete in the mid-to-late '90s as Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant took center stage. Jones was one of the most underrated all-around wing players of the '90s, a terrific scorer and defender that was named to back-to-back All-Star teams for Los Angeles in 1997 and 1998. But Bryant's development was writing on the wall for Jones, who was the centerpiece of the package sent to Charlotte in 1999 in exchange for Glen Rice. As for Van Exel, he took over as the starting point guard from Sedalle Threatt as a rookie and was an instant fan favorite as a rookie for his brash style and fearless shooting. But these assets were obvious overlaps with the developing Bryant and Van Exel sealed his fate in the 1998 playoffs by supposedly chanting "1-2-3-Cancun!" to break a huddle during a Conference Finals loss to the Jazz. He was traded that summer to the Nuggets for Tony Battie, a slight haul for a guy who had just been named an All-Star.
26) Norm Nixon, 1977-1983
When the Lakers drafted him in 1977, Nixon likely saw himself as a major piece of a young, rising core with Adrian Dantley and Jamaal Wilkes that could team up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to lead the Lakers back to glory. Though he certainly became a great Laker, including an All-Star appearance for them in 1982, Nixon's time with the team didn't turn nearly as expected. He clashed early on with coach Jerry West, and when the former playing legend took over in the front office, he immediately drafted Nixon's presumed replacement in Magic Johnson. Though Nixon and Johnson clashed over playing time, ball handling responsibilities, and media attention, they also teamed up effectively enough to lead the Lakers to three NBA Finals in four years, with two championships. Nixon's trade request was finally granted in 1983 when he was shipped to the crosstown Clippers, but knee injuries unfortunately hampered the remainder of his career.
25) Happy Hairston, 1969-1975
An unsung hero of the legendary '71-'72 Lakers, Hairston was second on that team in rebounding with 13.1 per game, and fifth in scoring as the starting power forward. That rebounding mark was good for 11th in the NBA that season, and he would later finish as high as fifth in the league in '73-'74, with a career high 13.5 per game. Hairston had spent his early seasons as a combo forward on the dysfunctional late '60s Royals, then with the lowly Pistons, before thriving as a jack-of-all-trades in Bill Sharman's Lakers system. All of his best statistical seasons came at age 28 or older, a rarity for a player in that era. At the time of his 1975 retirement, Hairston was sixth in Lakers history in total rebounds.
24) Robert Horry, 1997-2003
Less than half of his career was spent with the Lakers but Horry packed a lot into those six-plus seasons in Los Angeles. He came to Los Angeles from Phoenix during the '96-'97 season, exchanged for Cedric Ceballos. Though Horry was never an All-Star nor did he ever lead anything statistically, he was built for big game performances. His most notable clutch shot in a career full of them came for the Lakers in the 2002 Conference Finals, an improbable buzzer beater in game four. It's arguable that when the Lakers let him walk in the summer of 2003 to bring in Karl Malone, they sealed their fate in the 2004 NBA Finals loss.
23) Kurt Rambis, 1981-1988 and 1993-1995
Bespectacled, unkempt, and playing an old-school enforcer role, Rambis was a crowd favorite in the '80s and key component of four Lakers title teams. He never filled up stat sheets but instead did all the little things like set screens, dive for loose balls, and fight for rebounds. Owing to his style of play, he was also at the center of some of the best on-court scraps of the decade, including a nasty clothesline received from Kevin McHale during the 1984 NBA Finals. He was the starting power forward on the '81-'82 and '84-'85 title teams, then won two more rings backup A.C. Green in '86-'87 and '87-'88 before signing with the expansion Hornets as a free agent in 1988. A free agent return in 1993 allowed Rambis to retire as a Laker and he eventually won two more championships with the franchise as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson.
22) Rudy LaRusso, 1959-1967
The oft-forgotten third man on the '60s Lakers, LaRusso was a three-time All-Star for the team despite playing in the long shadows of Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. LaRusso started his career in the final season in Minneapolis, '59-'60, and played in four NBA Finals as the starting power forward before getting traded to the Warriors in 1967. He averaged 14.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in eight seasons with the Lakers, and sits eighth in franchise history in total rebounds and 13th in scoring. In a late career turn with the Warriors, he was knocked out of the playoffs in 1968 and 1969 by his former Lakers teammates.
21) Rick Fox, 1997-2004
A rare career in that it was about evenly split between bitter rivals Boston and Los Angeles, Fox had his best seasons statistically early on for the Celtics but his postseason success later on with the Lakers. He joined L.A. as a free agent in '97-'98 and immediately took over as the starting small forward, replacing the recently traded Cedric Ceballos. He held that job on and off for the next seven seasons, losing it briefly while Glen Rice was in town. During that time he was a key contributor to three championship teams, especially in '01-'02, when he came up huge in the Conference Finals against Sacramento. Playing in Los Angeles allowed Fox to also launch his acting career, landing a big role in the HBO show "Oz" as well as films like "He Got Game" and "Holes."
20) Jim Pollard, 1948-1955
Nicknamed "The Kangaroo Kid" for his leaping ability, Pollard was considered the first great dunker in NBA history and was naturally a fan favorite in the early days of the Minneapolis Lakers. He was the starting small forward on all five Minneapolis championship teams and was second on the team in playoff scoring behind George Mikan for four of those seasons. Pollard was also a four-time All-Star, 1st-Team All-NBA twice, and 2nd-Team All-NBA twice. He spent all eight seasons of his pro career with the Lakers, the first in the NBL and remaining seven in the NBA, before retiring to transition into coaching.
19) Lamar Odom, 2004-2011
As the centerpiece of the package that came in return for Shaquille O'Neal getting shipped to Miami, Odom had high expectations in Los Angeles. Though he never did live up to his star potential as the fourth overall pick in 1999, he did become one of the league's most respected players for his well-rounded game. Odom could handle the ball, rebound, score from anywhere on the floor, defend three positions, and succeed either as a starter or off the bench. Along with Bryant, Luke Walton, and Sasha Vujacic, he's one of four Lakers on the disastrous '04-'05 team that was still around for the '08-'09 title season. He was reportedly set to leave that offseason as a free agent, returning to the Heat, but was convinced to stay with the Lakers and was a key part of a title team again in '09-'10. He soon after became the first Lakers player to win Sixth Man of the Year in '10-'11 but was traded that summer to the Mavericks.
18) Slater Martin, 1949-1956
The first great point guard in Lakers history, Martin was the only true rival to Bob Cousy at the position in the '50s. In his first five seasons in the NBA, the Lakers won four titles, and Martin eventually won another championship late in his career with the Hawks. In 1953 he became the franchise's first point guard to be named an All-Star (his first of four appearances as a Laker) and in '54-'55, he became the first Laker to total 400 assists in a season.
17) Gail Goodrich, 1965-1968 and 1970-1976
A local boy who played his high school (at John H. Francis Polytechnic) and college (at UCLA, under John Wooden) ball in Los Angeles, Goodrich was a territorial pick of the Lakers in 1965 (the fourth and final time the franchise used that designation). He backed up his collegiate teammate Walt Hazzard at shooting guard and played in the 1967 and 1968 NBA Finals before getting selected by the Suns in their expansion draft. When Goodrich got traded back to the Lakers in 1970, he returned a conquering hero, now an All-Star level scorer and play maker. He was the leading scorer on the legendary '71-'72 title team with 25.9 points per game, which was the first of four straight seasons where he was an All-Star and averaged 20+ points per game.
16) A.C. Green, 1985-1993 and 1999-2000
Out of his NBA record 1,192 consecutive games played that earned him the nickname "Iron Man," Green suited up for the Lakers in the first 653, after they drafted him in the first round in 1985. He was a model of consistency not just for his durability but for his reliable rebounding, defense, and short jumper. In eight initial seasons with the Lakers, most of it as the starting power forward, Green played in four NBA Finals, winning two of them, and was named an All-Star in 1990. One thing he likely led the Showtime Lakers in statistically was groupies rejected, as his devout celibacy was a fascination for his often debaucherous teammates. Though he left as a free agent for the Suns in 1993, Green returned to Los Angeles in 1999, winning one more title as the starting power forward, this time alongside Shaquille O'Neal. He is the only player to win a championship for the Lakers in both the Showtime and the Shaq/Kobe eras.
15) Pau Gasol, 2008-2014
At the time of his trade to the team in 2008, there were some questions whether this Spaniard with a "soft" reputation could truly team up with Bryant to lead the Lakers back to glory. Gasol answered all doubters and then some, to the point that he and Bryant had a brotherly relationship thanks to their collective toughness and resiliency. Though Gasol's best scoring output came in his earlier years with the Grizzlies, his best rebounding numbers actually were compiled for the Lakers, averaging a double-digit rate for three straight seasons starting in '08-'09. He also improved tremendously defensively for Los Angeles, which would prove crucial to the 2009 and 2010 title runs. He led the Lakers in rebounding and blocks in the 2009 and 2010 postseasons, and finished second in scoring and assists behind only Bryant.
14) Byron Scott, 1983-1993 and 1996-1997
Though he was drafted by the (then San Diego) Clippers, Scott's first game of his career, in 1983, came with the Lakers, who traded Norm Nixon, Eddie Jordan, and a pair of second rounders for him. His final game was also with the Lakers, 14 years later, with brief stops in Indiana and Vancouver in between. Though he lacked Nixon's skill set, Scott was ultimately the better fit in Pat Riley's system, with a killer outside shot, solid defensive skills, and an ability to play off the ball offensively. He could take over offensively when necessary, most notably in the '87-'88 title season, when he led the Lakers in scoring with 21.7 points per game. Scott played in six NBA Finals as the starting shooting guard, winning titles in 1985, 1987, and 1988. After brief stints with the Pacers and Grizzlies, he returned to the Lakers for his final season in '96-'97, acting as a mentor to a young Kobe Bryant.
13) Wilt Chamberlain, 1968-1973
Though he was 31 years old and past his prime when the Lakers traded for him in 1968, Chamberlain was still one of the league's most dominant forces. He essentially forced the trade out west from the 76ers, threatening to leave the team for the Los Angeles ABA franchise if they didn't deal him to California. Lakers fans were a little dubious about their new, mercurial star center, but Chamberlain obviously proved his worth in '71-'72, when he led the NBA in rebounding and received Finals MVP honors as the Lakers won their first title in Los Angeles. Though his best statistical days were behind him, he did earn four of his 13 All-Star appearances in Los Angeles, and led the league in rebounding four times and field goal percentage three times.
12) Jamaal Wilkes, 1977-1985
His NBA career actually started off with a title earned on a different California franchise, as a rookie Wilkes was a key part of the '74-'75 Warriors team. He reached the Lakers as a free agent in 1977, returning him to his hometown of Los Angeles, and stuck with the team for nearly a decade. Possessing a jump shot so reliable that legendary announcer Chick Hearn deemed it a "20 foot lay-up" and a defensive intensity that only increased in big games, Wilkes was a crucial member of the '79-'80 and '81-'82 title teams. In fact, he arguably deserved Finals MVP honors in the latter, when he led the Lakers in scoring. A torn ligament suffered during the '84-'85 season basically ended Wilkes' career, and he gracefully turned over the small forward position to James Worthy. He still sits 10th in Lakers history in total scoring, having compiled just over 10,000 points for the franchise.
11) Derek Fisher, 1996-2004 and 2007-2012
The only player to team up with Bryant for all five Lakers championships in the era, Fisher was their first round pick in 1996, the same year they traded for Bryant on draft day. While the two had vastly different careers, with Fisher as a role player, averaging just 8.3 points per game for his career, they are inexorably linked as teammates for 12 seasons. Fisher took over as the starting point guard late in the '00-'01 season and his ball handling and defense were key in the last two championships of the Bryant/Shaq run. Though he was part of five championship teams, Fisher's most memorable postseason moment came in a non-title year, when he hit a buzzer beating three pointer in the final 0.4 seconds of a second round win over the Spurs in 2004.
10) Michael Cooper, 1978-1990
Looks were deceiving for the svelte and unassuming Cooper, who was nonetheless the most fearsome perimeter defender of the '80s, an honorific bestowed by none other than Larry Bird. He barely made the Lakers roster when they drafted him in the third round in 1978 and played almost no minutes in his rookie season. But Cooper persevered and developed into an indispensable member of the Showtime dynasty, with his ability to defensively blanket opposing stars at three different positions a key asset of the title runs in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. His signature offensive moment during the era came in a 1988 second round series against the Jazz, when his buzzer beater clinched game five. Along with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he's the only Laker to be part of all five '80s championship teams, and he was named to the All-Defensive team for eight consecutive seasons.
9) Vern Mikkelsen, 1949-1959
In a possibly apocryphal story, the Lakers supposed promised Mikkelsen that he would take over for George Mikan as the starting center in his second NBA season when they drafted him in 1949. Instead, Mikan hung around for four additional seasons and Mikkelsen thrived in shifting to power forward. In his first eight seasons with the Lakers, Mikkelsen was a six-time All-Star, 2nd-Team All-NBA four times, averaged a double-double in four seasons, and won four championships. He perfectly bridged the gap between Mikan and the '60s Lakers, with his final season being the '58-'59 campaign where a rookie Elgin Baylor carried Minneapolis to the NBA Finals. Despite his career ending over 60 years ago, Mikkelsen is still seventh in Lakers history in total rebounds and is one of just 13 players to compile over 10,000 points for the franchise.
8) James Worthy, 1982-1994
Only Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in more games for the Lakers than Worthy, who was their controversial #1 overall pick in 1982 and never joined another team in his 12 NBA seasons. He actually missed the postseason in his rookie year due to a broken leg (the Lakers arguably could have won the 1983 title if he was healthy) but over the next eight seasons as the starting small forward, he played in six NBA Finals, winning three of them. Though his "Big Game James" nickname was indicative of his incredible performances in the 1985 and 1988 Finals, the latter of which earned him Finals MVP honors, he also had his struggles in postseason play along the way, most notably in the 1986 Conference Finals, which prompted owner Jerry Buss to almost trade him. He likely could have hung around through the beginning of the Kobe/Shaq era, but Worthy's knees started to betray him late in his career and he retired in 1994 at the age of 33.
7) Elgin Baylor, 1958-1972
Like a basketball version of Sisyphus, Baylor played in 11 Conference Finals and eight NBA Finals during his 13 full years with the Lakers, but never won a title. During that time he also developed into the franchise's first big star after their 1960 move to Los Angeles, using his incredible above-the-rim skills to average 25+ points per game in eight different seasons (though he never won a scoring title) and finish his career with a 27.4 per game average, which is third in NBA history. He was also an All-Star 11 times, 1st-Team All-NBA 10 times, and set the NBA Finals single game record with 61 points in game five in 1962. Baylor is also the Lakers' all-time scoring leader and is fourth in rebounds but the lack of championships has certainly hampered his reputation in franchise lore. He finally got a statue tribute outside the Staples Center in 2018, long after fellow franchise legends Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, and Magic Johnson.
6) Shaquille O'Neal, 1996-2004
His 1996 signing in Los Angeles is still arguably the most impactful in NBA history, considering that O'Neal won three consecutive Finals MVP trophies for the Lakers. He was also league MVP in '99-'00 and finished third in voting in '00-'01 and '01-'02. Though he supposedly was happy to stay in Orlando, O'Neal and Los Angeles was a perfect fit, as he not only joined a long tradition of great Lakers centers (famously immortalized in this Sports Illustrated cover) but also fancied himself as a Hollywood player. Though he did film "Steel" immediately after signing with the Lakers, his more famous performances in "Kazaam" and "Blue Chips" came long before the move out west. In addition to his MVPs, O'Neal was also an All-Star seven times in Los Angeles, won a scoring title, and sits in the top 10 in franchise history in points, rebounds, and blocks. His trade to the Heat in 2004 is still a sore spot for many Lakers fans, who can still envision a reality where O'Neal and Kobe Bryant set aside their feud and continue to dominate the NBA together for the remainder of the '00s.
5) George Mikan, 1948-1956
In an career that initially spanned just six NBA seasons (he retired in 1954, then returned briefly for the '55-'56 season), Mikan won five championships, three scoring titles, was 1st-Team All-NBA six times, and would have won at least four or five league MVPs and Finals MVPs if they existed back then. He also changed the game forever, with his dominance in the paint so overpowering that the NBA adopted the three-second rule and widened the lane from six feet to 12. It finally did work to some extent in '53-'54, as his offensive output started to decrease even as he was still able to carry Minneapolis to one last title before retiring. Mikan was the first NBA player to total over 10,000 career points, and his final tally is still 11th in Lakers history.
4) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1975-1989
Though his individual dominance continued unabated, there were major questions about Abdul-Jabbar's ability to lead a team to title glory after he joined the Lakers in 1975. Playoff disappointments abounded in the late '70s, even as Abdul-Jabbar won MVP awards in 1976 and 1977, upping his career total to five such trophies. Things changed completely in '79-'80 when he won a sixth MVP trophy but also passed the torch to rookie Magic Johnson, most metaphorically in the NBA Finals, when Johnson took over for an injured Abdul-Jabbar at center and dominated game seven. Though he was already 32 years when the decade started, Abdul-Jabbar was still one of the greatest players of the '80s, consistently getting named to All-Star teams, racking up points to set the league record, and even earning Finals MVP in 1985 at age 38.
3) Jerry West, 1960-1974
To have a player like West spend his entire 14-year career with the team and still finish only third on this list really shows how lucky the Lakers franchise and fans have been. Los Angeles may have been a culture shock for the West Virginia-bred "Zeke from Cabin Creek," but the high-scoring point guard took the league by storm immediately. He was an All-Star in all 14 seasons he played, averaged 30+ points per game four times (and won the scoring title in '69-'70), and was 1st-Team All-NBA 10 times. His career was also defined for a long time by NBA Finals losses, seven of them to be precise, before finally winning the big one in '71-'72 (then losing an eighth Finals in '72-'73 for good measure before retiring). In a feat that will likely never be repeated, West was named MVP of the 1969 Finals despite his Lakers losing to the Celtics. He was easily the all-time franchise leader in points and assists upon his 1974 retirement, and still sits second and third, respectively, in each of those categories. Though he won just one title as a player for the Lakers, he later earned six rings with the franchise as their longtime general manager.
2) Kobe Bryant, 1996-2016
It once seemed impossible to imagine a player overtaking Magic Johnson as the ultimate face of Lakers franchise history, but over the course of an incredible two decade career, Bryant came quite close. His 33,643 career points is by far the franchise record, eclipsing Jerry West's previous record total, and Bryant is second in Lakers career assists, third in rebounds, fifth in blocks, and first in steals. He was also 1st-Team All-NBA 11 times, 1st-Team All-Defensive eight times, and MVP of the '07-'08 season, but the number that matters most is five. That's the amount of titles that Bryant won with the Lakers, matching that of one of his heroes, Johnson, and securing his place on the top tier of franchise lore. 2020 has obviously been a tough year for Lakers fans with regards to Bryant but it has proven his status amongst the fanbase and that his legend is obviously secure.
1) Magic Johnson, 1979-1991 and 1995-1996
Johnson was the perfect star for the perfect basketball city, with a flashy style and a jovial demeanor that belied a strongly competitive streak. He was the alpha and omega of Showtime, with his ball handling wizardry, his court sense, his unreal passing, and his occasional scoring outbursts. And then, after 12 years, it ended as suddenly as it began, with Johnson shocking the basketball world and Lakers fans with his retirement due to contracting the HIV virus. He found other outlets in life, including various high-profile business ventures, but kept coming back to the Lakers franchise, first briefly in a return as a player, then as coach, and eventually as a partial owner. Each of these later attempts were messy and imperfect, a stark contrast to his smooth, undeniable playing career that included nine NBA Finals appearances, five championships, three league MVPs, and three Finals MVPs.