The Los Angeles Lakers are arguably the most successful franchise in NBA history. With a record 32 trips to the Finals and 17 championships to their name, no team has a track record of sustained success like the Lakers.
Since the franchise began in 1947, the Lake Show has won over 3,500 games and owns the second-highest winning percentage of all time. Through the decades and across different eras, the team in Purple and Gold has found a way to stay relevant time after time.
Countless great players have come through the organization over the years. Of course, the most memorable players to fans are the ones that played major roles in helping the team win championships. Some are more beloved than others for different reasons.
Here, we will look at each Finals MVP award winner in Lakers history and break down how they stack up against one another. Rankings will be determined by each player’s performance or performances in the series where they took home the Finals MVP.
Ranking every NBA Finals MVP in Lakers history:
8. Jerry West
Finals MVP: 1969
It may seem odd that only eight Laker players have won a Finals MVP across the franchise’s 17 championships, but it is important to remember that the award did not yet exist for LA’s first four NBA titles.
This low number also speaks to the extent LA has dominated the NBA over the decades. Not only have the Lakers employed some of the greatest players in history, but several of their Finals MVPs stayed with the team long enough to win a second one.
The very first year the NBA awarded a Finals MVP was 1969, when the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Though his Lakers did not take home the championship trophy, Jerry West was given the award for Most Valuable Player of the series.
Without a three-point arc to boost his numbers, West put up an astounding 37.9 points and 7.4 assists in the series, while competing against the likes of Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Sam Jones. His selection remains the only Finals MVP to ever be awarded to a player on the losing team.
7. James Worthy
Finals MVP: 1988
James Worthy spent the entirety of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, from the time he was drafted by the team with the first overall pick in 1982 until his retirement in 1994. In ’82, the Lakers became the first and only team to ever pick first overall directly after winning a championship.
Worthy enjoyed a decorated career in Los Angeles where he won three championships and was named to the All-Star and All-NBA teams a combined nine times. But his greatest career accomplishment was taking home Finals MVP in 1988.
In ’88, the Lakers took on the famous ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons in the Finals in a series that came down to a deciding Game 7. With everything on the line, Worthy put together one of the greatest single-game performances in Finals history with 36 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals.
His triple-double helped LA eke out a 108-105 win against Detroit. It was a fitting end to the series for the player nicknamed ‘Big Game James.’ The Lakers’ hard-fought victory in these Finals was validated when the Pistons went on to win the next two NBA championships in a row.
James Worthy led the Lakers in total points and points per game during the ’88 Finals, and he certainly deserved the MVP after his Game 7 performance. But Magic Johnson was still the more impactful player in this series overall. As such, Worthy’s Finals MVP sits at seventh on our list.
6. Wilt Chamberlain
Finals MVP: 1972
After spending much of his first 10 years in the NBA in Philadelphia, Wilt Chamberlain rode out the latter stages of his career with the Lakers. Winning his third consecutive MVP award with the 76ers in 1968, Wilt was traded to LA prior to the 1968-69 season.
He would finish out the final five years of his NBA career as a Laker, helping the Lake Show reach the Finals in 1969, 1970, 1972, and 1973. In ’72, he claimed the Finals MVP as LA took down the New York Knicks four games to one.
Wilt Chamberlain was a seven-time NBA scoring champion and put up some of the most ridiculous stat lines in league history, but he was suffering from a broken hand during the ’72 Finals. Add in the fact that he was getting up there in age at 35, and it makes sense that he was actually outscored by both Jerry West and Gail Goodrich in the series.
But even while playing through a major injury to his dominant hand, Wilt put up a virtuoso performance in Game 5. He led the Lakers with 24 points and 29 rebounds to clinch the second championship of his career, along with his first Finals MVP.
While his numbers from this series may not appear gaudy at first glance, Wilt’s Finals MVP gets the edge over West and Worthy here after factoring in his crucial injury. Wilt’s was also the first Finals MVP award given in a Lakers Finals victory.
5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Finals MVP: 1985
His name is synonymous with the famous hook shot he perfected. After winning a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar requested a trade in 1975 and ended up with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would spend the final 14 years of his NBA career.
While in LA, Kareem became one of the most accomplished players not just in Lakers history, but in NBA history. He won five championships with the Lake Show and his six regular season MVP awards remain the most by any single player.
In his later years with the Lakers, Kareem was fortunate to be surrounded with supremely talented teammates like Magic Johnson. It was the addition of Magic that helped the Lakers break a seven-year Finals drought when they won the championship in 1980. But in ’80 and ’82, Kareem was unable to secure the Finals MVP over his star teammate.
Some may argue that Kareem should have taken home the award in ’80 due to his statistical edge. But the reality is that he did not win his first Finals MVP with the Lakers until 1985, when LA defeated the Boston Celtics in six games.
In that series, Kareem put up 25.7 points per game on 60% shooting, posting 36 points in a pivotal Game 5 with the series tied 2-2. At 38 years old, he became the oldest player to ever win a Finals MVP. The way he demonstrated his mastery of the low post game at an advanced age earns him fifth place on our list.
4. LeBron James
Finals MVP: 2020
Joining the Lakers at a later age than anyone else to win Finals MVP for the franchise, LeBron James arrived in LA already a three-time champion. He brought titles to the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers before bringing his talents to the City of Angels in 2018.
At 33 years old, James was entering the later stages of his career. But less than twelve months into his Lakers tenure, he got a running mate that he knew would help him as he rode out his final years: Anthony Davis.
When AD joined LA in 2019, the Lakers began to assemble a championship-level roster. LA held the best record in the Western Conference during the 2019-20 season. But in March 2020, the COVID-19 virus forced the NBA season to take an indefinite hiatus.
After the season resumed in July, the Lakers joined the other teams invited to the NBA Bubble in Orlando. They maintained the top seed in the West for the playoffs, reaching the NBA Finals against the Heat.
It was in that series that LeBron seemed to turn back the clock. At 35 years old, James led the team in scoring and playmaking while putting up ultra-efficient shooting splits of 59% from the floor and 41% from three. His triple-double of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists helped LA clinch the title in Game 6.
On the biggest stage, LeBron returned to his prime form and showed that he could still get it done when it mattered most. He became just the third player in NBA history to win a Finals MVP for multiple teams, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kawhi Leonard. His dominating performance in 2020 was impressive, but not as impressive as our next Finals MVP.
3. Kobe Bryant
Finals MVP: 2009, 2010
Possibly the most beloved Laker of all time, Kobe Bryant spent all 20 seasons of his illustrious career in Los Angeles. When he landed with the franchise in 1996, Shaquille O’Neal had just signed with the Lakers in free agency, which created a legendary pairing from day one of Kobe’s career.
While they had their differences, Kobe and Shaq were a near-unstoppable duo on the court together. After a few years went by, the pairing became a lethal threat in the NBA playoffs and ended up winning three straight championships from 2000 to 2002.
In the long and storied history of the Lakers franchise, a three-peat had not been achieved since the team was located in Minneapolis back in the 1950s. To this day, no team has won three titles in a row since the Shaq and Kobe Lakers.
But even in their domination in the early 2000s, Kobe was unable to secure a Finals MVP award. As the relationship between the two deteriorated, Shaq left for Miami while Kobe became determined to win a championship without him.
It was not until 2009 that Bryant finally achieved his goal. When the Lakers defeated Dwight Howard and the upstart Orlando Magic, Kobe wreaked havoc in putting up 32.4 points per game, earning his first career Finals MVP. But the next year was likely even sweeter for the lifelong Laker.
In 2010, LA avenged their loss in the 2008 Finals to the Celtics by taking down Boston in seven games. After the Celtics took a 3-2 series lead, Bryant led the way for the Lakers to win the next two games and close out Boston on the Staples Center floor. Kobe finally buried the memories of the haunting 2008 Finals series and cemented himself as one of the greatest Lakers of all time with his second Finals MVP.
2. Magic Johnson
Finals MVP: 1980, 1982
Magic Johnson was the missing piece that came along at just the right time for the Lakers in the 1980s. Drafted by the franchise in 1979, Magic joined a Laker team that already featured the massive talent of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but had been unable to break through in the playoffs for quite some time.
He instantly changed the outlook for LA. Magic was just 20 years old as a rookie, and few players have ever had such an immediate and significant impact on their team from day one as Magic Johnson did.
Helping the team reach the NBA Finals in his rookie year, Magic’s passing skill was unmatched. One of the most meteoric stars in NBA history, he unlocked the Lakers’ offense in a huge way and got LA back to the level of a perennial contender.
As previously stated, Kareem certainly had an argument for the 1980 Finals MVP. But ultimately, Magic took home the award, becoming the youngest player to ever win the award at just 20 years and 276 days old. His 21.5 points and 8.7 assists per game against the 76ers in the Finals were stunning achievements for a rookie, leading the media to vote him in as MVP.
In 1982, Magic’s performance in the clinching Game 6 against Philadelphia went a long way toward him earning his second Finals MVP in three years. He put up 13 points to go with 13 assists and 13 rebounds, along with four steals and two blocks.
There is very little chance the Lakers win any of their championships in the 80’s without Magic Johnson at the helm, and that puts him below just one other Finals MVP in Lakers history.
1. Shaquille O’Neal
Finals MVP: 2000, 2001, 2002
The only player to win three Finals MVPs for the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O’Neal was arguably the most unstoppable offensive talent in the history of the NBA. When he joined the Lake Show in ’96, he was just entering his athletic prime at 24 years old.
He would go on to terrorize opposing defenses for the next eight seasons in a row in LA. Other teams would send double-teams at Shaq as often as they could, but when he got the ball on the low block, it was over.
Shaq would be named Finals MVP in all three of the Lakers’ championships from 2000 through 2002. With all due respect to Kobe Bryant, there could not have been a much clearer choice. Against Indiana in the 2000 Finals, Shaq put up astounding averages of 38 points and 16.7 rebounds per game.
His numbers did not fall off over the next two Finals, either. In Game 1 against the 76ers in 2001, Shaq posted an absurd line of 44 points and 20 rebounds (ironically, the only game LA lost in their entire playoff run). He was the driving force behind one of the most dominant runs in NBA history.
In all, Shaq averaged 35.7 points against the frontcourts of the Pacers, 76ers and Nets in the Lakers’ three Finals wins. At his peak, he made light work of the competition and became the second player to ever win three straight Finals MVPs after Michael Jordan. That is enough to earn him the title of greatest Finals MVP in Lakers history.