1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I think that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is not just the greatest second superstar in Los Angeles Lakers history, but that he has a legitimate case when we are talking about the greatest basketball player of all-time. Success followed him nearly everywhere he went in basketball and he is still the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
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So how can Kareem be a second superstar is he is one of the greatest players of all-time? That is because the face of the Showtime Lakers, and the only player that has a legit case to make for the best Laker of all-time over Kobe, was Magic Johnson, not Kareem.
Even if Kareem had a few prime years left in him when he joined the Lakers, this was still Magic’s team, making Kareem the most over-qualified second superstar of all-time.
Kareem’s best years were in the 70s but he was still lethal in the 1980s, hence why the Showtime Lakers were so successful. He was named to the All-NBA First or Second Team in every season but one and was the Finals MVP in 1985.
Heck, Kareem even won three MVPs on the Los Angeles Lakers in 1976, 1977 and 1980. However, the Showtime Lakers did not become the Showtime Lakers until Magic showed up. Magic won three MVPs later in the decade and was named the Finals MVP in three of the Lakers’ five championships from that era.
He is the greatest passer of all-time and while Kareem was one of the most dominating players in NBA history in his prime, the team won most of its titles when he was the second star behind Magic Johnson.