The Los Angeles Lakers have had a number of great players suit up in the purple and gold. Here are the 10 greatest centers to ever play for the Lakers.
This is Part 1 of a new series ranking the top Los Angeles Lakers of all-time at each position. First, let’s set the ground rules:
• Eligibility for the list required at least three seasons on the Lakers, so “one-hit” and “two-hit” wonders were excluded.
• The only years that counted were the ones played for the Lakers. It didn’t matter how good a player was before or after, only how he performed for the franchise.
• Minneapolis Laker players were eligible. Very few people today have ever seen those players in action. Therefore, although not ideal, it was necessary to rely on statistics and anecdotal accounts.
• Many Lakers played multiple positions, for example, center and power forward, or point guard and shooting guard. Therefore, in the interest of fairness, some players are ranked in more than one position.
Ok, time to get started. For much of its history, except for the early-to-mid-60s, the Lakers franchise has often been associated with their dominant big man in the middle. So it’s only fitting that this series begins with a countdown of the top 10 all-time Lakers centers. The top 5 were easy to name, the bottom not nearly as obvious.
Honorable Mention:
• Elmore Smith– only played two seasons, so was not eligible for the top 10. But he was perhaps the greatest shot blocker to wear the purple and gold uniform. In his two years, he averaged a respectable 11.7 points and 11.3 rebounds. Why did the Lakers trade him? He was included in the package to acquire the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• Mel Counts– one of the first 7-footers with an outstanding outside shot, he averaged 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds in six seasons and was a nice weapon off the bench
• Jim Krebs, Leroy Ellis, Darrall Imhoff and Ray Felix– these were the four primary centers who toiled for the Lakers in the years following the team’s move to LA. Each averaged 6-8 points and 6-9 rebounds. And each was over-matched in the Finals against Bill Russell. However, they deserve some consideration for their efforts.
No. 10: Mychal Thompson
Many now know him as a Lakers radio commentator and the father of Warriors star Klay Thompson. But Mychal was also quite a player.
A native of the Bahamas who grew up as a Lakers fan, Thompson had a distinguished career before the Lakers acquired him. Portland selected him with the top pick of the draft in 1978, and during seven seasons he averaged over 17 points and nine rebounds for them.
In 1986, Thompson was a key reserve for a Spurs team that was going nowhere. Then in February 1987, much to his delight, Mychal was traded to the Lakers during the heart of the Showtime era.
The number one reason the Lakers wanted Thompson was that he was the most effective player in the NBA at defending Kevin McHale of Boston, who killed the Lakers during both the 1984 and 1985 Finals.
Thompson happily accepted his reserve role, in which he not only played backup center to Kareem but was also the team’s best power forward. He was regularly on the court during fourth quarter crunch time.
Statistics don’t show his true value. The Lakers had so many offensive weapons that they didn’t need much scoring from Thompson. In his five seasons with the club, he averaged 8.9 points and 5.5 rebounds while playing roughly half the game.
Most importantly, he expertly fulfilled a key defensive role by neutralizing McHale as well as anyone could in the 1987 Finals when he helped the team win the championship over the Celtics. He was also an important part of the first LA Lakers team to win back-to-back titles the following year.
No. 9: Bob McAdoo
Much like Thompson, McAdoo was a star player long before he joined the Lakers. He was one of the best-shooting big men of all-time, the Kevin Durant of his generation. He averaged over 30 points per game three times, leading the NBA each time, and 25 or more in four other seasons, and was a five-time all-star.
By the time McAdoo joined the Lakers early in the 1981-82 season, he was no longer the dominant player he once had been and had bounced around the league, playing for three different teams the past three seasons.
However, he was the perfect big man to come off the bench to provide instant offense in relief of Kareen for the Showtime Lakers.
Over four seasons, he averaged 12 points and four rebounds in only about 20 minutes a game. He was particularly effective during the 1982 playoffs, averaging nearly 17 points as a reserve center and power forward, and helping the Lakers win a title. He was also a solid contributor to the 1985 championship team.
No. 8: Clyde Lovellette
Many readers are probably unfamiliar with “Jellybelly”, who backed up George Mikan during the Minneapolis Lakers’ final championship season of 1953-54.
Mikan then retired, and Lovellette replaced him as the team’s starting center for most of the next three seasons, although he teamed with Big George when the latter came out of retirement in 1955-56.
Clyde had excellent averages of 17.2 points and 11.2 rebounds over his four Lakers seasons.He went on to even greater heights as a member of the then-St Louis Hawks, where he teamed with superstar Bob Pettit in the early 60’s before finishing his career as a back-up to Bill Russell.
Lovellette was known for being a tough guy who used his 6-9, 230-pound body to mix it up with everyone underneath the basket. But he also had an effective set shot. He would likely have ranked higher on this list had he played for a longer time with the Lakers.
No. 7: Vlade Divac
Divac was the best Lakers center who never played for a title team. When he was drafted in 1989, just after Abdul-Jabbar had retired, few fans had ever heard of the then 21-year-old. 7-foot-1 inch Serbian.
Vlade moved into the starting lineup during his second year and remained there for a total of six seasons. Despite his size, he relied more on finesse and agility than on raw power. He was a good but not great scorer (12.2 PPG) and rebounder (8.5 RPG) but was one of the game’s best passing big men.
Divac was probably best known for his defensive flops and his colorful personality. He was steady and consistent but not spectacular, which was symbolic of the Lakers as a team during that era.
Vlade went on to become an important member of the Sacramento Kings in the late 1990s and early 2000’s. But before that, he made one more significant contribution to the Lakers.
On draft day 1996, he was traded to Charlotte for their first-round pick, a guy who was moving straight from high school to the NBA by the name of Kobe Bryant.
No. 6: Andrew Bynum
At his peak, which unfortunately lasted only a short time due to injury, Bynum was arguably the No. 1 or 2 center in the NBA.
Jim Buss took credit for drafting him directly out of high school. At first, Bynum appeared completely over-matched in the NBA. In his rookie season, he barely got off the bench, playing just seven minutes per game.
He showed some improvement in his second year, averaging 7.8 points per game. But very few would have predicted the giant leap he’d take next- certainly not Kobe, who was caught on tape in an off-court rant criticizing Lakers management for not trading Bynum for Jason Kidd when they seemingly had the chance.
Andrew blossomed in his third season when he became a nearly unstoppable presence in the low post, averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds in just 29 minutes a game. He combined with Bryant and Lamar Odom to lead the surprising Lakers back into contention… until he suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss most of the rest of the season.
He returned to play a total of seven seasons with the Lakers and contributed to their back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. For his career, he averaged 11.7 points and 7.8 rebounds a game. But discounting his lost rookie year, the numbers climbed to 13.1 and 8.7, and in his peak five seasons to 14.2 and 9.2, which is why he was elevated to position six among Lakers centers.
No. 5: Pau Gasol
After Bynum went down with a knee injury in January 2008, it appeared that the Lakers promising season was about to crash and burn. But in one of his finest moments in the club’s front office, Mitch Kupchak engineered a remarkable trade with Memphis in which he acquired Gasol for Kwame Brown and a handful of young players and draft picks.
At the time it looked like Kupchak had totally fleeced the Grizzlies. But in hindsight, the trade was much more even than it first appeared because of the emergence of one player that Memphis received: Pau’s brother Marc Gasol, who went on to become a multi-year All-Star center.
Pau Gasol replaced Bynum in the Lakers lineup and helped propel them to the Finals that spring, and to back-to-back championships the following two seasons. During those 2 ½ seasons he averaged 18.6 points, nearly 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game.
Gasol established strong relationships with both Bryant and Odom. He was one of the league’s most consistent and versatile big men and was equally adept playing center alongside Odom or power forward when Bynum came back. He was also extremely well-suited for Phil Jackson’s triangle offense.
In his 6 ½ years with the Lakers, Gasol averaged 17.7 points, just under 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Bryant has stated that in his opinion, the next Lakers jersey to be retired will be Gasol’s No. 16. Since there are 10 LA Laker jerseys hanging from the rafters at Staples Center, that would mean Gasol was one of the 11 best players since the team moved to LA.
No. 4: Wilt Chamberlain
Chamberlain was one of, if not the most, dominating players in NBA history. For the first seven seasons of his career, he averaged at least 35 points and 20 rebounds per game, including an incredible 50.4 points and 25.7 boards in 1961-62.
But these rankings consider only what a player did with the Lakers. Wilt joined the team for the final five of his 15 seasons. By then, his offensive skills, although still formidable, had sharply diminished, but he was still a great rebounder and shot blocker.
When the Lakers traded for “the Big Dipper” for the 1968-69 season, it was thought that combining him with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West would create a “super-team” that could finally knock off the Celtics in the Finals. However, LA once again fell to Boston in seven games and endured the same result the following year against the New York Knicks.
As Baylor’s career was winding down due to injury, a new force was rising in Milwaukee, where a young superstar center named Lew Alcindor led the Bucks to the 1971 championship. It appeared the window was closing on LA, which still hadn’t won a title since moving from Minneapolis.
But that suddenly changed the following season. Behind the scoring of West and Gail Goodrich and Chamberlain’s tenacious play on defense and on the boards, the Lakers won a record 33 straight games and a then-record 69 regular season games. They then defeated the Knicks in the Finals for their first LA championship and Wilt was named MVP of the Finals.
In his five Lakers seasons, Chamberlain averaged 17.7 points and a team-record 19.2 rebounds per game and shot over 60 percent from the field (but just 47.5 percent from the free throw line).
Although blocks were not yet an official statistic, it is generally acknowledged that he was also likely LA’s all-time block leader. For most teams, he would rank closer to the top. But the Lakers are not just any franchise, especially when it comes to big men.
No. 3: George Mikan
“Mikan the Magnificent” was the first NBA superstar. He dominated the league in its infancy in the early 1950’s, leading the Minneapolis Lakers to five titles in six years, including three straight from 1952-54.
At 6-foot-10 inches and 240 pounds, the bespectacled Mikan dwarfed most of his opponents and overpowered them in the paint. Because of his inside preeminence, the league widened the lane and established a goaltending rule.
Big George was known for his hook shot, which he shot equally effectively both right and left-handed. More than 60 years later, young big men are still taught the “Mikan drill”, shooting underneath the basket with either hand.
He led the league in scoring three times, averaging over 25 points per game in each of those seasons. Fouling him did the opponents little good as Mikan shot a strong 78.6 percent from the free-throw line, where he mastered the underhanded shot.
Surprisingly, his field goal percentage was poor by today’s standards as he shot only a tad over 40 percent. But it was a different era when shooters were not nearly as refined as they are today, and his percentage was respectable for the times.
His career was relatively short. He played just six years with Minneapolis, retired and then came back with them for one final season in 1955-56. Over the course of his seven Lakers seasons, he averaged 23.1 points (fifth on the all-time Lakers list) and 13.4 rebounds per game (which rank second on the Lakers, although rebounds were not an officially-maintained statistic for his first 2 years).
His averages rose slightly in the postseason. Had there been a Finals MVP award in his time, it is possible he would have won the award 5 times.
No. 2: Shaquille O’Neal
Shaq’s eight seasons with the Lakers were nothing short of spectacular. Like Mikan and Chamberlain before him, he absolutely dominated the paint, a behemoth 7-1, 325 pounds, an unrelenting force of nature that was impossible to guard. It was also extremely difficult for referees to judge foul calls for and against him.
After spending his first four NBA years in Orlando, O’Neal signed with the Lakers as a free agent in July 1996, a month after the team had acquired Kobe Bryant on draft day. Lakers executive Jerry West was ecstatic, with visions of future titles flashing before his eyes.
Yet the results were far instantaneous. Although Shaq was an immediate success, it wasn’t until his fourth season in LA, when Phil Jackson brought with him the triangle offense that was a perfect fit for O’Neal, that the Lakers won the NBA championship. Then they repeated the following year and completed a three-peat in 2002.
As good as the Diesel was during those regular seasons (and he was very, very good), he was even better in the postseason. During those three title years, his playoff averages spanning 58 games were 29.9 points and 14.8 rebounds per game. And oh yes, he was named Finals MVP for those three consecutive years.
Shaq’s numbers during his eight regular seasons in LA weren’t too bad either- 27 points (tied for second on the Lakers all-time list), 11.8 rebounds (fifth all-time) and 3.1 assists per game, converting nearly 58 percent of his field goal attempts (but only 53 percent of his free throws), which inspired the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy.
On most teams, O’Neal would have been far and away the franchise’s best player. But on the Lakers, he would only rank somewhere in the top 6, in large part because he only played with them for eight years.
No. 1: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
As virtually every pro basketball fan knows, Kareem scored the most career points in league history. At 7-foot-1 but a relatively thin 225 pounds, he relied on his skills, finesse and agility. He also developed the No. 1 scoring weapon ever seen in the NBA, the unstoppable “sky hook”. In his prime, he mastered the ability to shoot the ball down towards the basket.
During his dominant college career at UCLA, the Bruins won three straight titles. Kareem (then playing under his given name, Lew Alcindor) was named the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA tournament each year. He was quite possibly the best collegiate player of all-time.
He was the first pick of the 1969 draft, and in his second season, he led Milwaukee to what is still its only NBA championship. Abdul-Jabbar played six spectacular years for the Bucks but yearned to live in a larger city with greater cultural opportunities, and was traded to the Lakers in 1975.
Like Wilt before him and Shaq later on, Kareem did not immediately bring a title to LA. But beginning in 1980, the Lakers experienced their greatest sustained period of success, and the “Big Fella” was a large reason why.
Over the next 12 seasons, LA made nine trips to the Finals and won five titles, including their first victory over the rival Celtics in 1985, when Captain Kareem was named Finals MVP.
Kareem averaged over 20 points per game in his first 11 seasons with the Lakers before finally slowing down a bit at age 39. But even that year, he raised his game back up in the 1987 playoffs to help LA defeat Boston in the Finals once again, as he also did the following year when they became repeat champions against Detroit.
In his 14-year Lakers career, he averaged 22.1 points (6th on the all-time Lakers list) and 9.4 rebounds (ranking 10th), along with 3.3 assists. Those averages sagged a bit during his final two seasons at ages 40 and 41. He finished 3rd in career points and 2nd in games played for the team. Also, he was 3rd in both postseason points and games played for the club.
It is extremely difficult to compare centers with wing players. An argument could be made that Kareem was not only the best player in Lakers history but also the No. 1 player ever in the NBA.
Whether or not you agree with that, it is safe to conclude that Abdul-Jabbar was the best-ever center for the Lakers franchise.
Next: 50 Greatest Players In Lakers Franchise History
Rankings of Lakers at other positions will be published throughout the upcoming weeks.
All statistics courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com