Top 5 Lakers of All-Time: Did Kobe Make the Cut?

I can't believe Kobe was put ahead of Jerry West,James Worthy or Michael Cooper.Probably the best defender to play the game.Don't get me wrong,Kobe is a great player,but because of his ego he tore apart a team that could have won another 3-4 titles atleast.He didn't like having to share the lime light with Shaq.The L.A.Lakers have been my team since Jerry West was drafted out of UWV.My parents are from West Virginia and it wasn't to often someone made it big from there,so they got me following the Lakers.I still think of them as my team,but I have a problem with them keeping a rapist and a selfish ass hole.I've just lost interest in the NBA with the type of players that are coming up.

No Kobe didn't make the top five or ten or 20 he is a selfish
ass hole I've been a critic before he became a good player
when he was in high school his girlfriend walked him home
after school every day. the daily routine was to watch film
of himself with his GF. The bottom line, I guess he became
disintrested. they broke up, but she had to find out from
someone else. He is not a good person. Maybe that's why
has never bonded with team mates.

this list is a joke kobe should be at least 2nd if not 1st. He is the alltime laker leader in regualr season and playoff points, 1x mvp(should have a least 3, ppl steve nash has 2, paleaseeeeeeeee) 4 time allstar mvp, 2 times finals mvp, has wone 5 finals has been to 7. some of the best clutch shooting the league has ever season, 10x first team, 9 time defensive 1st team, etc etc, this whole website is a joke especially putting shaq over kobe lmao!!!!!!!! goodbye

I agree with Timmit. Jerry West WAS Mr. Laker. He was so good that the NBA uses his image in their logo. Elgin Baylor was another great Laker. How about Wilt? The problem is that none of today's writers ever saw the likes of West, Baylor or Chamberlain. To say that someone is the greatest of all time is ludicrous. Compare MJ to Dr. J and I'll take the latter. Give me a break. Don't write until you have ALL the info.

Not mentioning Wilt was an oversite on my part(brain fade).Your right about the writers not seeing those three play,and they are equating greatness with championships.Thats like saying Oscar Robertson and Pete Mariavich and Dr.J are,'t great because they only have one ring between them.

Jlakers here,
Yeah! and we shouldn't bad mouth how players because of temptation in life. We need to teach them about life also.

Everyone needs to held accountable for their actions.Just because they are young and rich doesn't excuse that.They know right from wrong.The teaching starts at home lng before you get to school.

No Kobe is in the top five it's about championships I think Wilt needs to be on the list. Elgin nor Jerry could do the things Kobe could. Kobe's ego did not mess of that team it was Shaq's lack of work ethic that's what Kobe had a problem with Shaq. He was never in shape. He was always out at the beginning of the season every year. That woman knew what she was doing when she went in Kobe's room. So Worthy getting arrested for proposition a prostitute, Wilt sleeping with 10,000 women and the same with Magic you know what he got and that's ok. What Kobe did has been going on before he was born. Kobe is a top 5 Laker yes he is.

Jerome, you are so correct. Go Kobe!

There must be a criteria in order to measure and in sports winning (championships)is the yard-stick. There have been great individuals, But (1) Kareem is the greatest Laker, most championships (six)and he forced rule changes for the game. (2) Magic with 5 rings and redefined a position. Whether he selfish or not (3)Kobe played a major role in 5 championships. Although (4)Wilt earned just two rings, a season of 50 points and 25 rebounds is something that will probably not be repeated. (5) Shaq dominated during those championship years for the Lakers and earned four rings during his career.

George Mikan and the Laker teams he played with lost twice in their exhibition games against the Harlem Globe Trotters, so like Babe I can't attest to the greatness of an individual in a one-sided league. And being a logo with one ring doesn't say much. Bill Russell isn't a logo, but has more rings than fingers...perhaps he should have been the sports logo!!!! But he played during the wrong time or with the wrong skin to receive such accolades.

Jerry west better than Kobe? Be for real! Jerry West played when a 7 footer was an oddity. Look at the competition Kobe has played against.

Jerry,Wilt and Russell played against better defenses,today’s game is all about offense or one on one basketball. The rules of basketball have change so much that Naismith would not recognize the game played today.

What better defense are you saying? Jerry West was able to score and bring the ball with his one-sided dribble --- HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIBBLE LEFT-AND-RIGHT. Given the defense then which did not stop Jerry West, and given the defense NOW that can easily stop Jerry West -- defense was nothing during Jerry West's time.

right on

no problem with list except wilt should be there. jerry should be #1.

there was no three point shot when jerry played. magic never won a championship without kareem, but kareem won one without magic.

#1 Jerry, #2 Kareem, #3 Wilt, #4 Magic, #5 Kobe. Can you imagine how many more points Jerry West would have had if they had the 3 point shot when he was playing. The best pure outside shot in Laker history and possibly NBA history.

What are you smoking? Jerry West is lucky to even be considered for the top-5, let alone lead it. He's barely in the discussion. Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Kobe and Shaq are certainly ahead of him, and you can argue Baylor and Worthy ahead of him as well. If not, they are certainly equal to him. As usual, white people have to overrate themselves. You are clearly white, b/c no black man (or man of any other color) would put West first. So who's the greatest player in NBA history...Larry Bird (*eye roll)? Lol.

BlackPrince, it's very obvious to me that that you are not 'Historian' on Laker Basketball. Your focus is on what have you done lately. The tile of the article says of all time, that means from the beginning to the present. George Miken #1, 6 Championships in 8 years, not bad for a 'White Guy', #2 Kareem, not bad for a "Black Guy', #3 Jerry West, not bad for a 'White Guy', #4 Magic Johnson, not bad for a 'Black Guy', #5, Elgin Baylor, not bad for a 'Black Guy'. Now if you measure all thing with "Rings' then Bill Russell, the Celtics had '11 Championships in 13 years', '8 in a row' !! As for the 'Greatest' has to be Bill Russell, remember the 'Rings'. Greatest scoring front line, McHale-Parish- Bird in NBA history, look it up 'BlackPrince' Several years ago Michael Jordan was named the'Greatest Athelete of the century, I would not argue with the award if it said 'Male'. Why you may ask, there was a young lady who was, dominant in Golf, Track& Field, Basketball, Billards.She was an Olympian, 1932 2 Gold 1 Silver. In 1932 She competed in the AAU Championships, She Entered 8 of the 10 events. Here is what she did, 5 1st outright another 1st tied, 5 'World Records' the team she represented won the 'Championship'. 'She was the ONLY MEMBER of the team' Her name 'Babe Dedrikson' Zaharias' know as 'The Babe' Now who's the 'Greatest'

BlackPrince: I forgot to put my knife in the last part of my reply about the 'The Babe', she was 'White'

Your an idiot,its got nothing to do with color.I agree with Magic being #1.You obviously have never seen West play.By the way West would shoot Birds lights out.I love Worthy,probably had the most explosive first steps to the basket,but couldn't shoot like Jerry.Its time to stop using the race game dude,its 2012 why do you want to keep playing that card

I'll agree with you on the 3 point- West. In Milwaukee, when Kareem was still there, they had a kid named Jon McGlocklin, 90 % of his shots came from 3 point range, which would translate to more than 12,000 points in his 8 year career. He was not know for his assist, but if you look for numbers, when they would come out to stop the long 'Rainbow' he would dish it off to Kareem and you know what would happen next ! "Sky Hook' a great deal of the time.

Wilt doesn't belong on any Laker list. He was a good player for the Lakers but just because of his size by that time. His best years were all before he became a Laker.

How about kobe at 5a and Elgin at 5b

Kobe can't compare to West as an all around player. West was on the first four all pro defensive teams late in his career. Kobe does not know what defense is. As stated earlier, hard to know how many points West would have with 3 point line.

Kobe is actually one of the best defenders the NBA has ever seen. He may not be quite as intense as, say, Jordan, GP, Moncrief, Coop', Mugsy, Rodman, or Dennis Johnson, but he defends much more than one would ever expect such a modern, prolific scorer to.

West could never do the things Kobe can do, but he is right in there with Pistol-Pete Maravich (the greatest white player ever!) Larry Bird, John Stockton, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzky, Drazen Petrovic, Kiki Vandeweigh, Gail Goodrich, and two extremely underrated Sonics in Detlef Schrempf and Tom Chambers, for the title of "baddest white dude".

But don't get silly. None of those guys compared to the five greatest Lakers as I have listed them above...not even Bird, who, unlike Schrempf and Chambers, was/is very OVERRATED.

obviously black prince is smokin ditch weed. Kobe can't defend s... even for a modern prolific scorer, whatever that is. I would call it a selfish gunner?

Jerry would not be the scorer that he was because he does not know how to dribble left and right. HE HAS A ONE SIDED DRIBBLE THAT HE COULD EASILY BE STOPPED BY CURRENT DEFENSE.

I also think Gail Goodrich should be considered as well. As for Kobe, he may be all that, but forget the bag of chips. If he had played in yesteryear, he would have ridden the bench.

All Lakers included
1. Chick Hearn
2. Jerry West
3. Kareem
4. Majic
5. Miken
6. Kobe
7. Elgin
8. Shaq
9. James Worthy
10. Jerry Buss

Kobe should be one or two easily any person in the nba world will tell u that. My last post was deleted for telling the truth the article is a joke, look at kobe stats and accomplishments as a laker , he kills almost every laker, with the exception of magic and one more ring and he passes him

I am tired of hearing about Kobe in the motel room. That girl went to a famous athlete's room for what.......she knew exactly what she was doing and she saw the $$$. She was NOT raped and you had better change your language. How many of these athletes had sex outside of the marriage when away from home?? This is nothing new and it will never change. He is also not a selfish player, perhaps in his youth, but not now. He is a very talented player and belongs right up there with the greatest!!

Jesus dude open your eyes.Regardless why she went to the room,No means no.You don't pay the girl millions if you didn't do anything wrong.He's got the best lawyers money can buy,you fight it.Who do you think advised him to pay.Don't forget about the 7mil. rock he gave his wife for not doing anything wrong.

Jerry West was a great player in his era. But he was not in this era. I saw West play. I'm a West fan. But he was no Kobe Bryant. Kobe is the third best Laker of all time behind Magic and Kareem.

kobe is the best scorer ever!thats the bottom line.

AMEN!!!! And until Lebron, Wade, and the rest of the so called super stars, make 81 points in a game, or can sport more than 5 championship rings, Kobe Bryant is still the BEST player in the game today.

its all good

West could easily be in the top 5. Wilt did most of his damage before he got to the Lakers. I appreciate the writer, Mr. Moon, but who the hell proof reads his articles?
"Shaq was arguably to most opposing figure to ever play professional basketball." First of all, I assume he meant Shaq was arguably THE most IMPOSING figure ever to play professional basketball." Secondly, Shaq never scored a 100 points on a player and was not nearly the athlete that Wilt was. Back in those days, a 7 footer was like having a 7'7 player now who could actually play the game. Every game was a mismatch except when he played Russell.

Whoever did this rating was faulty in basing it on how many championship teams a player was on as the top qualified for making the list. That stat should only be used in determining the Best Five Laker Teams of All Time! An individual player should be rated on how they dominated. The Best Players should be based on how they themselves dominated on the court and the fear they struck into their opponents. Wilt Chamberlain was the top center of all time, better than Jabbar and O'Neil. Wilt played head to head against Jabbar when Kareem was with the Bucks and dominated him most time. Wilt still holds the record for highest point total in a game (100) and most games over 50 points. Wily was more physically opossing to other players during his time than O'Neil was during his time. Jerry West was the ultimate point guard before the point guard position was defined. Jerry was extremely smart and ran the Lakers on court well. Gail Goodrich was a lights out long range shooter before the three point shot era in the NBA. James Worthy was the second best player on his Laker teams, equivalent to a Scottie Pippen with Jordan. Magic Johnson deserves his due. O'Neil spent more than half his career on other teams and should not even be considered a Laker (except for the winning championships method of rating players which is wrong). Kobe is too selfish as team player but his player stats qualify him as a great player.

I like the list, but Mikin should be off, move up Kobe and Kareem and put Jerry West on it. No offense, Mikin played at a time when African Americans weren't really in the league, not that the color mattered, but a lot of the best players in the world weren't in the league. The more I think about it though I think after the dust settles Kobe will be the all time best Laker. I give him the nudge because of his Defense, Shaq would have been the G.O.A.T. even over M.J. if he could shoot free throws.

Kobe Bryant is a criminal in my book & should never be on the top 5 list.

Really? A criminal. I guess that would be only in your book. So how is that book selling? And you know him personally? I think not. Get a life dude, and by the way, pick up a dictionary along the way, and look up the word criminal. You just may find that, that word applies to YOU !!

I'd also like to say that the players of today cannot compare to the players of the post-dunk era. The players before that knew how to play basketball, today all they know how to do is dunk the ball. I'd like to see the curent players play a game against the pre-dunk era the pre-dunk era would win hands down. There is no stragety in todays games.It's the cause of many people not watching the NBA.

I'm not a Laker fan, never have been. I'm a long suffering Knick fan who happens to love the game of basketball. As far as picking and all-time team is there are to few people voting who have more than short term experience with the game (short term:being post 1980) For what its worth:Chronilogical order
1)George Mikan 2) Elgin Baylor 3) Jerry West 4) Kareem Abdul Jabbar 5)Earvin Johnson, Kobe Bryant tie( I don'see either winning multiple championships minus Shaq or Kareem, especially "Magic" who never one another title after Kareem retired.

Such harsh words coming from such an Ignorant person.

You have to consider what they did as a Laker and not as NBA player.

Jerry West is #1 - Maybe #2 or #3 shooting guard GOAT behind MJ or Kobe but hand build Laker dynasty in the 80s and late 90s. He won 1 championship as a player, helped build 9 more for Lakers.
Magic is number #2 as Laker - Unique 1 of a kind franchise player. Unique skill set, clutch, improved every player on the court, and had leadership.
Kareem is number #2 - even past his prime would've handled Shaq and dominant
Shaq is number #4 - Truly dominant with the Lakers. Didn't have a long career as Laker and need Phil Jackson.
Kobe is #5 - A great score, athletic, and driven. Maybe the #2 SG but lacked the leadership of Magic, not as clutch as West, or as dominant as Kareem or Shaq in his prime.

The top 5 Lakers of all time.

1. Wilt - there was NONE like him, in his day.
2. Kareem - 1 of the 3 best big men of all time. (just add Russell to these 2)
3. Magic - Magic was great, but no RINGS W/O Kareem. (Jordan won 6 rings W/O a Kareem)
4. Shaq/Kobe. You pick who is 4 and 5. Either works.

And the NBA LOGO should be Kareem and his skyhook.
The easiest to recognise shot in the HISTORY OF THE GAME.
IT WAS UNSTOPPABLE.

After thinking about it, the greatest Laker list of all-time CAN NOT VIOLATE the GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL-TIME LIST. SO I AM REVISING:

1- Kareem. Played 20 years. Won 6 titles (2 Franchises). Most MVPS, in the history of the sport. Tops in MULTIPLE STATS. WAS NEVER SHUTDOWN BY ANYONE. EVER.
2. Wilt. Was a great talent. BUT WAS SHUTDOWN BY RUSSELL.
3. Magic. Great but NO RINGS without Kareem. (Jordan won 6 w/o a Kareem).
4. Shaq. Made Kobe what he was.
5. Kobe.

ALL TIME GREATEST.

1. Kareem. See above. NO ONE MATCHED HIS CAREER, EVEN COLLEGE DAYS.
2. Russell. 11 rings. Nuf said.
3. Wilt. Once is a liftime physical talent
4. Jordan. Jordan would be higher, if he was dominant early in his career. But it took him 7 years to win a title. Kareem changed the league DAY ONE.
5. Magic/Bird. Changed the NBA forever.

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to me kareem is the best player ever
3 ncaa championships
6 nba championships
all time most points
because of him ncaa had to outlaw dunking
when you see someone do a hook shoot who do you think of
the only player who received a pecentage of the gate.
and all you haters kobe would put west,baylor,to shame
give the man his due he is a great player and if you don't think he deserve it you are not a basketball fan.ever time somebody mention basketball mj name comes up i don't get it he has done nothing impossible kareem has six championships russell has 11

Shaq should not be in the top 5 list. He should not be listed ahead of Kareem and Wilt and Mikan.

For anybody to say that Kareem and Wilt are not pure Lakers, has forgotten that Shaq spent his better years in scoring while he was in Orlando (It was just that there was still A MICHAEL JORDAN at that time).