The Los Angeles Lakers have 17 NBA Championships. Out of those teams, many of them consisted of great starting lineups, dynamic duos, and even trios.
When it came to depth, there have been many of those teams that have had a great amount of talent coming off the bench. Looking back, it is interesting to see what team had the most depth when it came to the bench.
At times, a team’s depth is everything. So many wonderful teams have had great depth and were able to utilize a good amount of their roster. There are also teams that we see who do not have this luxury, and this only hurts them of course.
The importance of depth is something that is sometimes looked over especially in today’s game. When it comes to winning a title, there is no doubt that depth only increases the odds for a team to be victorious.
Breaking down the great Los Angeles Lakers benches:
The back-to-back Laker teams of 1987 and 1988 had some very good players coming off of the bench. The great Michael Cooper, backup center Mychal Thompson, and role player Kurt Rambis gave the Lakers a nice mix of talent. However, there was not too much more than those few who were key contributors.
the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers had a very deep team. Other than the magnificent duo of Shaq and Kobe, there was veteran guard Ron Harper and forwards Glen Rice and A.C. Green as the starters.
Off the bench would come Derek Fisher, Brian Shaw, Rick Fox, and Robert Horry. A wonderful mix of young talent and veterans that reminded me of those great Chicago Bulls teams.
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The 2001-2002 Lakers once again had great depth. Guards Lindsey Hunter and Brian Shaw as well as veteran Mitch Richmond. Derek Fisher, (he started only 36 games that season) Robert Horry, and Devean George. This was an all-around deep team that would get contributions from many of these players.
The 2008-2009 Lakers saw players like Trevor Ariza, Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Luke Walton coming off the bench and contributing to help the Lakers win their first of two titles.
The only Lakers that started every game that they played in that season were Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum. Odom, Ariza, Walton, and Radmanovic took turns starting in various games as well as coming off the bench.
The next season the Lakers would repeat and they would do so with almost the same exact roster except for the addition of Metta World Peace. Their bench was filled with talented players such as Odom, Jordan Farmer, and Shannon Brown.
Last season’s team may have had one of the deepest benches especially when it came down to the playoffs and the championship series against the Miami Heat. Rajon Rondo, Kyle Kuzma, Dwight Howard, Alex Caruso, and Markieff Morris all helped the Lakers win a title last season.
I feel there is a three-way tie here as the Laker Championship teams with the best benches were the 2008-09, 2001-2002, and the 2019-2020 squads.
Let me know what you think in the comments down below!