Few NBA organizations, if any, can boast the history of success that the Los Angeles Lakers have record of hanging in the rafters of Staples Center. With 17 NBA Championships ranging from 1949 when they were in Minneapolis all the way to 2020, there has never been a problem with scoring big wins when it comes to the Lakers.
With such success, it’s no surprise that the Lakers have also seen some all-time greats pass through their halls. From George Mikan to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Magic Johnson to Kobe Bryant, the purple and gold have retired 11 numbers in their history but that’s only a fraction of the impactful players who have put on the uniform.
Specifically looking at scorers throughout Lakers history, though, sheds a different light on a number of players. While you could potentially debate the overall merits of Magic and Kobe as whole players, there’s no argument that the latter was far and away the better scorer of the two. It creates an interesting distinction as scoring, while incredibly important to success, is simply one part of the game.
Subsequently, there are many great scorers in Lakers history, both past and present, who may not be among the greatest players to every play for the franchise but who knew how to find nylon whenever they put up shots.
Those are the players we’re going to be looking at here; we’re going through the illustrious history of the Los Angeles Lakers and highlighting the 30 best scorers to ever play for the franchise.