Los Angeles Lakers greatest scorers: 19. Clyde Lovellette
Another player from an era that makes it incredibly difficult to judge their place in rankings of all-time greats is big man Clyde Lovellette. The big man played only four seasons for the Lakers from 1953-57, but was more than able to establish himself as an elite scorer in the NBA as a whole and in the history of the Lakers.
Lovellette averaged 17.2 points per game with the Lakers, the 15th highest per-game average in the team’s history. While he may have only shot 43 percent from the field over the course of his time spent with the franchise, Lovellette’s scoring ability was not only impressive, but also revolutionary in the overall context of the game. He was one of the first big men to step away from the paint and create offense from the mid-range as a big man. He was essentially one of the original archetypes of a stretch four.
Lovellette would undoubtedly be higher in these rankings had he not spent merely four years with the organization, but here we are. Still, with the level of productivity that the big man showed in addition to his contributions to the league in terms of how his scoring affected the league in years to come, Lovellette seems like the right fit for No. 17.