Los Angeles Lakers: 10 greatest shooting guards in franchise history

3. Gail Goodrich

“Stumpy” had two distinct stints with the Lakers. In 1965, they drafted him out of UCLA, and he had three pretty good but unremarkable years with them, averaging about 11.5 points per game. He was then selected by Phoenix in the NBA expansion draft.

Two years later, after Gail’s offensive talents had blossomed, the Lakers traded back for him. This time around, he had six consecutive outstanding seasons, averaging over 20 points per game in four of them.

Throughout the 60’s, the Lakers were led by the dynamic duo of Elgin Baylor and West. They added Wilt Chamberlain to the team in 1968. But for four straight years starting in 1971-72, it was the 6’1″ Goodrich, with his deadeye jump shot, who led the team in scoring and who made the all-star team each year.

That included the first LA title team in 1972, during which Gail averaged a career-high 25.9 points per game, combining with West, who scored 25.8, to form the league’s highest-scoring duo. That same season Goodrich also averaged 4.4 assists.

Overall Gail played nine seasons for the Lakers, during which he averaged 19 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He shot a respectable 46 percent from the field and an excellent 81.7 percent from the foul line. He was also elected to the Hall of Fame, and his Lakers jersey No. 25 is retired.

Despite those first-rate achievements, Goodrich still made one more significant contribution to LA, albeit unintentionally. In 1976 he signed as a free agent with the then-New Orleans Jazz. NBA rules in those days required compensation for the team left behind. So the teams arranged a trade and the Lakers got the Jazz’ No. 1 pick in 1979- which they used to pick Magic Johnson!