Los Angeles Lakers: 30 greatest scorers in franchise history

Los Angeles Lakers greatest scorers: 7. George Mikan

Because of the era in which he played, the legendary big man George Mikan is one of the most divisive players in the history of the NBA and the history of the Lakers in terms of just how great he was. He undoubtedly played at a time where the big men in the league simply weren’t at a level of size and skill to where they could match up with his “ability” in those regards. All that said, it led to Mikan putting up big scoring numbers while playing for the Minneapolis Lakers.

Mikan played seven seasons with the Lakers and was one of the most dominant scorers in the league over that span. In only 439 games, Mikan still put up a ridiculous 10,156 total points with the Lakers and averaged an impressive 23.1 points per game along the way. It’s hard to argue that a player who was that prolific during his time in the league doesn’t deserve a spot among the best scorers in a team’s history.

That being said, the era Mikan played in is just strange in every sense. Not only was there not much competition for Mikan at his position, but he also wasn’t particularly efficient considering the advantages he had. He shot just 40.4 percent from the field over his time in Minneapolis, a curiously low level of efficiency. Even then, his output over seven seasons is worthy of him being No. 6 in these rankings.