Los Angeles Lakers: 10 greatest shooting guards in franchise history

Who are the 10 greatest shooting guards in Los Angeles Lakers history? We break it down, here!

This is the fourth installment in a multi-part series ranking the best Los Angeles Lakers at each position.

As a reminder, this is the criteria for a player to be included on the list:

• Played a minimum of 3 seasons with the Lakers. Longevity with the team is a factor. More recent Laker players are not favored over those from the more distant past.
• Only performance with the Lakers counts
• Can be rated at more than one position
• Minneapolis Laker players are included

Previous installments featured rankings of centers, power forwards and small forwards. This time around, we rate the top shooting guards, which will include a mixture of players throughout various Laker eras.

Honorable Mention:

• Anthony Peeler– He was a first-round pick (No. 15) of the Lakers, and played the first four seasons of his career with them in the early-to-mid 1990’s. He mostly came off the bench, but he did start about 30 percent of the games he played. He had a nice left-handed stroke and averaged 10.6 points for the team. He probably would have had a longer Laker career, but they traded him to create cap space to sign Shaquille O’Neal.

• Pat Riley– Before becoming a legendary coach, Riles spent five seasons with the Lakers as a valuable sub. He was never a big scorer, averaging in double-figure points only once in his career, but was feisty on the court and had a good all-around game. He was a rotation player for LA’s first NBA championship team in 1972 and overall averaged 7.8 PPG as a Laker.

• Lou Hudson– Sweet Lou joined the Lakers in 1977 for the final two years of a sterling career after spending 11 seasons with the Hawks, making six all-star teams and averaging 22 points. At age 33, he still had an accurate jump shot, but only played about half the game, and averaged 11.8 points for the Lakers.