Ranking 24 worst Lakers starters of the Kobe Bryant era
By Tyler Watts
5. Stanislav Medvedenko
Medvedenko signed with the Lakers in 2000 just months after Kobe and Shaq’s first championship. Slava went undrafted in 1998, and the 21-year-old played three years of professional basketball in Europe before coming to the NBA.
Medvedenko was a 6’10 big man who never met a shot he would not take. His shoot-first mentality drew ire from Laker Nation and limited his playing time.
He played in just seven games in his first season and not a second in the playoffs as the Lakers made it back-to-back titles. In year two, Medvedenko saw minutes in 71 games but was axed from the playoff rotation in their third straight championship season.
Slava Medvedenko spent six seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers where he averaged 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per game. The 6’10 forward inexplicably made 58 starts, including 38 in 2004 when he had his best NBA season. Even then, he averaged 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game and played just 11.3 minutes each night in the playoffs as the Lakers reached the NBA Finals.
Medvedenko played just 14 games after leaving the Lakers and was done playing professional basketball in 2007 at just 27 years old. The 6’10 big man struggled with the Lakers, and he one was of the worst starters next to Kobe Bryant.