Los Angeles Lakers: Top 10 duos in franchise history

9. Jerry West and Gail Goodrich (1973-74)  –  18.7 combined win shares, 20.5 average PER

Before there were the splash brothers in the Bay Area revolutionizing the NBA by draining threes, there was Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, who were actually some of the players that helped move the game of basketball towards the perimeter.

The 3-point line actually was not introduced until 1979, five years after West retired and the year after Goodrich retired. However, that did not stop them from being known for being able to hit shots from anywhere on the court.

Jerry West is most famously known for being the NBA logo we all know and recognize, but his most famous shot and moment was a shot from half-court that sent the third game of the 1970 NBA finals into overtime. The Lakers lost that game and the series because there was no 3-pointer yet, and West also missed out a ton of other points throughout his career as well.

After Wilt Chamberlain retired and dismantled the big three of himself, West, and Goodrich, there was a brief season when Goodrich and West had to carry the load themselves. That was in 1973-74 and the Lakers won the Pacific Division, but they got bounced in the semifinals of the playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks, who were spearheaded by a future Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.