Kobe Bryant is seen by many NBA fans as one of the greatest basketball players of all-time. The late, great superstar made it his mission to carve out his own legacy in the game, winning multiple titles and even winning the MVP award too.
Following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan, Bryant’s career was intrinsically linked with the Chicago Bulls legend, given they both had similar personalities and a relentless will to win.
Given his longevity with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant unsurprisingly can count himself among the best in franchise history. But who did the shooting guard himself say can be considered among the greatest Lakers players of all-time?
Having played with a host of incredible stars, including Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant narrowed it down to a list of the top five. Find out below who he chose, and the big omissions that he made.
Unsurprisingly, Bryant named arguably the greatest point guard of all-time as one of the best players in Lakers history. Magic Johnson had a remarkable career that saw him battle tremendous adversity and still come out on top. With vision that was unmatched – not to mention the kind of supreme advantage he had over other guards given his size – Magic could make all types of passes.
His role in helping to create one of the biggest rivalries the NBA has ever seen during the 1980s, cannot be understated. The Lakers’ battles with the Boston Celtics were legendary, and Johnson coming up against Larry Bird saw arguably the two dominant forces of the decade locking horns in the playoffs when the spotlight was at its brightest.
An all-time great, Jerry West may not have the amount of championship rings as a Magic Johnson or Kobe Bryant, but he more than established his legacy in a Los Angeles Lakers jersey. One of the greatest clutch players in NBA history, West is perhaps best known for his incredible 60-foot, buzzer-beating shot that ended up tying Game 3 of the Finals against the New York Knicks back in 1970.
Still holding the record for the highest average in a playoffs series – he managed 46.3 against the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the 1965 post-season – West stepped up his game when things were on the line.
Alongside Jerry West, Elgin Baylor was long regarded as one of the top three Los Angeles Lakers stars of all-time until the surge of talent that came through with the likes of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. A supreme scorer, Baylor played well above his size and still holds the record for the most number of rebounds as a Laker, despite standing at only 6 foot 5.
A 11-time All-Star who was named to the All-NBA First Team on ten occasions, Baylor may not have won a championship with the Lakers, but his greatness is recognised by the fact his no.22 jersey has been retired by the franchise.
The man with the most NBA MVP awards in history with six – one more than Michael Jordan – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was quite simply an unstoppable scorer. Armed with arguably the most dangerous single shot/manoeuver in history with his unguardable sky-hook, Abdul-Jabbar terrorised the association for so many years, first with the Milwaukee Bucks, then with the Los Angeles Lakers.
A multiple-time champion who was a huge part of why the Lakers enjoyed so much success in the post-season in the 1980s, Kareem may no longer hold the record of the most points in NBA history, but still goes down as one of the best to ever play at the center.
In terms of the most dominant players the game has ever seen, Wilt Chamberlain is certainly up there in the conversation for being the absolute very best alongside fellow former Laker, Shaquille O’Neal. A towering presence, Wilt the Stilt dominated the boards like no other, leading the league in rebounding an astonishing 11 times across his 14-year career in the NBA – in fact, one game even saw him register the feat of pulling down 55 rebounds.
A two-time champ, Chamberlain won Finals MVP with the Lakers in their 1972 title triumph. Although arguably some of his best years came in Philadelphia – he won all four of his MVP awards there – there’s no questioning the kind of impact he made while with the Lakers, and can undoubtedly count himself among the best in franchise history.
