Los Angeles Lakers greatest scorers: 24. Nick Van Exel
Nick Van Exel is one of the more enigmatic players just in terms of his performance on the hardwood in the history of the Lakers in the NBA. He spent five seasons in Los Angeles through the mid 1990s, the first five years of his career to be exact. While he would go onto be a slightly more prolific scorer in his prime, Van Exel was solid in that capacity while he was playing in LA.
In just five seasons and 378 games with the Lakers, Van Exel still managed to put up 5,633 points over his time with the team. That was good for an average of 14.9 points per game over his time in Los Angeles. His 41 percent shooting at the start of his career is certainly nothing to get excited about or to even be mildly impressed by, but his 36.4 percent shooting from long-range in his first five seasons in the NBA is an admirable rate of efficiency from three-point land.
Van Exel was one of the most unique guards to ever play in the NBA and it all started with the Lakers. Even if he wasn’t in his prime while playing in Los Angeles, he was pretty close to that level for a team who needed him to put the ball in the hole. He doesn’t quite crack the top 20 of these rankings, but he certainly comes close.