In the history of the Lakers, the roll call is replete with some of the greatest legends of the NBA hardwood and teams that will occupy the rarefied air as among there best of all time. If one could reach back in time and select the cream of the crop to be on the all time Laker team, who would they be? This is one fans list.

I have included only the starting five for the simple reason that I don’t know enough about the all the great players from the 50’s and 60’s to fill in a second team completely. My sincere apologies to so many great players I was forced to omit.

Point Guard: The incomparable Magic Johnson. You want to talk about winning? Try this on for size: A twenty year old off his sophomore national championship year in college comes to a team that hasn’t gone to the finals in seven years and over the next 12 years before his retirement from the HIV virus takes them 9 NBA finals, winning five. Now reread that last sentence. Take a moment to think about it. Scary isn't it? His opponents in these finals are some of the best teams of all time: Dr. J’s Seventy Sixers, Birds’s Celtics, Isiah’s Pistons and Jordan’s Bulls. All those teams went to multiple finals and all won titles. Magic’s team met no patsies in winning their bling. Still the most physically unique player in the history of the NBA. A six foot nine point guard who rebounded like a power forward and could dribble up the floor through the teeth of the defense like he was six inches shorter eliminating the need for an outlet pass on the break. Thirty years later there has still been no player who can approximate what he did on the floor. He powered the greatest fast break in NBA history. Anyone who didn’t see this player initiate and orchestrate the Lakers fast break, making spit second decisions on the move frequently forcing the ball up the court in less than three seconds has no idea how fast and how beautiful basketball can be. His engine of destruction would just bury teams in waves of fast break points, turning a contest into blow out before the opposition could even think about what had happened. One of best basket minds of all time and one of the great clutch players in NBA history. As a 20 year old rookie he had to fill in at center for an injured Abdul Jabbar in game six of the NBA Finals against Dr. J’s Seventy Sixers in Philly. All he did was jump at center, play all five positions and rack up 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists in leading the Lakers to victory, grabbing the Finals MVP and inaugurating the Showtime Dynasty. Think Michael Jordan could have done that at age 20? Could anyone have? Dr. J said following the game, “He was like a man among boys, only he was a boy among men.” Later in Magic’s career Julius said of him, “He’s the only player I’ve seen who can score 30 points and dominate a game or score zero points and dominate a game.” He could execute the most basic of passes along with the most spectacular or no look ones with equal facility. His height enabled him to look and pass over the heads of a defense like no other guard could. He hid his killer instinct behind a one thousand watt smile and exuberance and overt love for the game that electrified his teammates and fans alike when being cool and emotionless was the in thing in the NBA. The most unselfish of players, willingly sacrificed what could have been a 25-30 point a game scoring average, early career recognition as being better than arch rival Larry Bird and league MVP’s so that teammates like Kareem, Wilkes, Mcadoo, Nixon, Worthy, Scott and others could get theirs and team could function at its best. Brought emotion and with Larry Bird, passing and teamwork back to a dead league. When he came into the league in 1979, the NBA finals were on tape delay at 1130 at night, by 1984 the NBA was fasting rising, hottest ticket in sports and a prime time spectacular. He along with Kareem led an end to decades of frustration for the Laker organization by beating Boston in the 1985 Finals. They became the one and only team to every win a ring on Boston’s home floor. The term triple double was forced into the NBA lexicon to describe his ability to frequently reach double digits in points, rebounds and assists in a single game. Some of his achievements: College national champion and finals game MVP, Five time NBA champion, three times NBA finals MVP, a three time League MVP, participated in 12 all star game, winning the MVP in 1992, 10 all NBA team placements and an Olympic gold medalist. All time assist leader at his retirement and still holds the all time assist average of 11.2 a game. Named one of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Magic Johnson is recognized as the best point guard in NBA history head and stands alone like the Colossus Of Rhodes among the pantheon of Purple and Gold Gods as the Greatest Laker of all Time. He is on the legitimate short list of players who can be posited as the best player in league history.

Shooting guard: Kobe Bryant. A razor call over Mr. Clutch and the logo of the NBA Jerry West. West was the better teammate and much more mature and stable personality but Kobe’s incredible physical skills, scoring acumen and edge in titles (3-1) give him the call here. Except for passing, anything West could do Kobe could do better. The closest thing to Michael Jordan in terms of pure energy and jaw dropping body control and scoring from the two guard spot the league has ever seen. When Kobe is on, he is simply indefensible. A great defense player when he chooses to be so. Played a huge Robin to Shaq’s Batman in leading the Lakers back to glory during the three peat after the failures of the post Showtime era. This year became his own Batman, leading HIS team back to the NBA Finals. Owns almost every single season and single game scoring record in Lakers history. If you want to know how amazing this is take a look at just some of the scorers who played for this organization: George Mikan, Abdul Jabbar, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlin, Egin Baylor, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and James Worthy. Already considered by most objective fans and experts the second best shooting guard in NBA history. Some of his achievements include: Three time NBA champion, All NBA selection since 1999, Ten time All Star, all defensive first or second team 8 of the last nine years, league MVP and two time scoring champion. Entering next year at only thirty years of age and surrounded by a talented team, Kobe has plenty of time and opportunity to grab more rings and mount an assault for a position on the top tier of NBA greats.

Center: Kareem Abdul Jabbar. A close pick over five time Laker champion George Mikan who inaugurated the initial Laker dynasty. Kareem matched Mikans hardware with the Lakers and is my choice because he won another ring with Milwaukee and simply because he was the more athletic versatile, longer lived player. He also had the most unstoppable shot in NBA history-the Sky Hook. This man won three straight national championships at UCLA and would have won four if freshmen had been allowed to play in college back then. Jabbar was a blend of finesse and athleticism who could also muscle up for rebounds as well. He was a superb defender and shot blocker and one of the best passing big men of all times. A very cerebral player who understood basketball at all levels. He along with Magic Johnson led the greatest Laker dynasty of all times. Kareem was part of five NBA titles during his stint in Los Angeles and will forever be remembered as a Laker. The epitome of cool and grace under pressure, he made the game look too easy. His fanaticism about health and training was years ahead of its time and helped him to play successfully well into his forties. He won the finals MVP against Boston in 1985 at the advanced age of 37 and finally ended the Boston curse giving Laker fans and the organization the win over Boston they had long thirsted for. His accomplishments are mind numbing. When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left the game in 1989 at age 42, no NBA player had ever scored more points, blocked more shots, won more Most Valuable Player Awards, played in more All-Star Games or logged more seasons. His list of personal and team accomplishments is perhaps the most awesome in league history: Rookie of the Year, member of six NBA championship teams, six-time NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, 19-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion, and a member of the NBA 35th and 50th Anniversary All-Time Teams. He also owned eight playoff records and seven All-Star records. Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Named one of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. No player achieved as much individual and team success as did Abdul-Jabbar. He remains the NBA’s all time leading scorer. Another player on the short list of candidates for the best player to ever live.

Power forward: Elgin Bayor. The most tragic player in Lakers history. A 6 foot 5 athletic marvel, he combined the strength of Charles Barkley with the moves of Julius Erving. A member of the great Laker teams of the 60’s with Jerry West that ran into Russell’s Celtics seven times in the finals losing every time and losing again against the Knicks. That’s and amazing eight NBA finals appearances for Baylors Laker teams! Count ‘em. Every Laker scoring record that Kobe Bryant now breaks was set by this amazing athlete. He had every move in the book and invented others that had never been seen before, a precursor to Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Not only could he score at will but he consistently would have rebounds in the high teens and twenties. Some his achievements include: 10-time All-NBA 1st Team. In 134 playoff games, Baylor averaged 27.0 points and 12.9 rebounds. He led the Lakers to the NBA finals 8 times. From 1960-61 through 1962-63 he averaged 34.8, 38.3, and 34.0 points, respectively. He was selected 1959 Rookie of the Year after averaging 24.9 ppg and gave new hope to the struggling Minneapolis Lakers, who moved to Los Angeles in 1960. Baylor played in 11 NBA All-Star games, and scored 23,149 points in only 846 games as a pro. His career average of 27.4 ppg is third behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain on the All-Time list. His best offensive season was 1961-62, when he averaged 38.3 ppg. Overall, Baylor averaged 30 points or more three times during his career. On December 11, 1960, Baylor became the first player in NBA history to break the 70-point barrier after he torched the New York Knicks for 71 points. Named one of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. Baylor, who teamed with Jerry West to form one of the most feared scoring duos in the NBA, was named All-NBA First Team ten times. Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In one of bitterest bad jokes in sports history, the year he retired because of bad knees, the Lakers went on to win the NBA championship.

Small forward: James Worthy. A blur of fire power mixing athleticism and finesse, Big Game James was the perfect exclamation point for the Lakers Showtime fast breaks with either a head jarring slam dunk or scoop shot. In his prime he was just too big and too fast to be effectively guarded and repeated destroyed Larry Bird and his Celtic front court mate’s efforts to stop him in three NBA finals match ups with Boston. Collegiate player of the year he led North Carolina over Georgetown for the NCAA title and then brought his winning ways west. He was 6 foot 9 package greased lighting, with a first step that many guards would have killed to possess. A member of three NBA finals championship teams he won the Finals MVP against the Pistons in the last Showtime championship. Elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame; Three time NBA champion; NBA Finals MVP in 1988; Twice All-NBA Third Team; All-Rookie Team; Seven-time NBA All-Star; Named one of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996.

That’s my list. I feel horrible about leaving off the great Jerry West and George Mikan, but as amazing as these players were, I just could not justify placing them above Kareem and Kobe. That says more about the latter two players than is an indictment on the former.

I defy any team, including the Boston Celtics, to come up with a starting five that would beat this team in a seven game NBA series.

Anyone who wishes to comment on my choices, please feel free. You can add your own players if you disagree or even set up a the bench if you feel you have knowledge to do so. As I said earlier, I just don’t know enough about all those great Lakers players of the far past to move into the second team and feel any confidence about my selections. Hope some of you found this enjoyable.