Los Angeles Lakers: 50 Greatest Players in Lakers History (Updated 2023)
By Ed Schrenzel
Greatest Lakers of all time: 37- Sam Perkins
- 3 seasons, 185 games
- 14.6 PPG
- 8.0 RPG
Sleepy Sam was rarely flashy but almost always a solid, consistent contributor to the Lakers initial post-Showtime years of the early 1990’s. He signed with the team as a free agent and filled the role of power forward and some back-up center.
In most games he could be counted on to score between 12 and 18 points and grab 6-9 rebounds. He started on the Lakers team that lost in the 1991 Finals to Chicago, which was led by Perkins’ former college teammate Michael Jordan. For that postseason, his only one with the Lakers, Sam averaged 17.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.
Just before the 1993 deadline, he was traded to Seattle for Benoit Benjamin and Doug Christie, neither of whom did as well for the Lakers as Perkins had.