Best Los Angeles Lakers big men of all time: 7. Vlade Divac
Vlade Divac might be remembered by most Lakers fans for being the guy that the Lakers traded for Kobe Bryant. Or they might even remember him for being the Sacramento King that tapped the ball out to Robert Horry for one of the most memorable buzzer beaters in Lakers playoff history.
But before all of that, he was one of the best centers to ever put on a Lakers uniform and helped pave the way for future foreign players in the NBA like Dirk Nowitzki. When Vlade was drafted there was a stigma around foreign players not translating into the NBA game, but his immediate success with the Lakers helped change that narrative.
Divac was drafted primarily to be the successor to Kareem which were impossible shoes to fill, but his performance was enough to help the Lakers reach another NBA finals after Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement. He paired perfectly alongside Magic Johnson because he could run the floor and pass the ball exceptionally well for a guy his size.
Prior to Vlade, the Lakers never had a big man who could hit a 3-point jumper while being able to hold his own as a rim protector and rebounder down low. This new style of play made him a fan favorite in Los Angeles right away mainly because many people did not know what to expect out of him.
People forget that when Divac was eventually traded for an 18-year-old Kobe Bryant, many people questioned how they could trade an established starter like Vlade for a kid out of high school. That attitude speaks to how well Vlade was viewed around the league while playing center for Los Angeles.
Best Los Angeles Lakers big men of all time: 6. Anthony Davis
Since Anthony Davis has returned from injury there has been a ton of unfair and harsh criticism on a player who helped lead his team to the NBA finals last season and hit some huge shots along the way to that title. It felt like AD silenced most of his critics with that performance in last year’s bubble, but since his return from injury that has not been the case.
Teammate Alex Caruso shared a similar sentiment after a game last week against the Suns when talking about AD, saying
"“I can’t speak for him personally, but I know I’ve heard a lot of chit chat, some tweets, some words around the world about ‘AD is so soft and he’s falling all over the place,’ and guys got to understand they’ve just got to give him a couple games to get his feet under him,” said Caruso. “The beast is waking up, as everybody can tell. “Last game he looked more like himself. This game he’s doing reverse dunks to finish the game. We’re starting to see vintage AD, and he’s rounding into form.”"
A healthy Vintage AD is a scary sight for any team likely to see the Lakers in the upcoming playoffs, and Davis will likely move up this list if he can have another playoff run like he had last season.
However, playing for the Lakers it hard to crack the top 5 best big men of all time if you only have one title playing for them on your resume. That is why he finds himself at number six on this list because he only has less than a couple of years as a Laker under his belt.
But in one season playing with the franchise, he has already done enough that if he never put on a Laker uniform again he should be considered one of the Lakers best big men of all time. Last season he helped take the Lakers from missing the playoffs for the last five seasons back to championship glory.
The combination of him paired with LeBron James proved to be the best duo to put on a Lakers uniform or any uniform since Kobe and Shaq.
In last year’s playoffs Davis averaged 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals in the way to hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy. He was the first Lakers big man since Shaq to average over 20 points and 9 rebounds for an entire playoffs.
If Davis continues to play at the pace he is on and stays healthy for most of the next phase of his career, then there is no reason why AD can not move up three or four spots on this list before he retires.