1) Kobe Bryant
There can be absolutely no doubt who was the Los Angeles Lakers’ best player this century. Ranking Kobe at the top is not merely a posthumous tribute. Rather it is a recognition of his greatness.
Bryant played 17 magnificent seasons this century for the purple and gold spanning 1,146 regular-season games, over 400 more than any other player. He also played the most postseason games, 192.
His scoring statistics go a long way towards explaining why he is ranked #1: 30,888 points scored in the 2000s (over three times more than any other Laker) with an average of 27 PPG (coincidentally the same as Shaq but over nearly 70% more games). In addition, he averaged 5.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists.
Of course, there were also the Black Mamba’s single-game accomplishments: his nearly unbelievable 81-point outburst against Toronto, the 63 points he scored in just three quarters against Dallas (more than the entire Mavericks team tallied), and the magical 60 he notched in his NBA finale against Utah.
In all, Kobe scored 60 points six times, 50 points 26 times and 40 or more 135 times (third all-time behind Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan) plus 8 more times in the playoffs.
Bryant was named to 17 all-star teams, including each of his final 16 seasons. He was voted All-NBA 14 times, 12 on the first team, and also made 12 all-Defensive teams, 9 times on the first team.
Kobe was voted league MVP once (finishing in the top five 11 times), Finals MVP twice and all-star MVP 4 times. And he earned 5 NBA Championship rings, equaling a Lakers high, plus 2 Olympic gold medals.
On top of all that was his “Mamba Mentality”, a tremendous drive to keep improving individually and to lead his team to victory. He had a well-deserved reputation as one of the NBA’s all-time best clutch players, converting many a hoop down the stretch of a game when his team needed him the most, often against the league’s best defenders.
For all of these reasons and more, both Shaq and Magic Johnson have said Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker of all-time.
What do you think? These rankings are subjective and open to discussion. Should any player be ranked significantly higher or lower? Was anybody omitted that you think should have been included? Let us know your opinion in the comments section.