To many, Kobe Bryant is the greatest player in Los Angeles Lakers history. Bryant has the same number of championships with the Lakers as Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while also having a long 20-year legacy with one franchise that very few in NBA history can replicate.
Kobe shared the court with 132 different players throughout his 20 years with the Lakers. Ranging from one game played to over 1,000, there’s a wide variety of players who have the honor of saying they played alongside the Black Mamba.
Even with all of his success, the list of Bryant’s best-ever teammates may surprise you. There are quite a few recognizable names, as well as role players you may have completely forgotten about with time.
Based on their shared time together on the Lakers, here are the 24 best teammates of Kobe Bryant’s illustrious career.
24. D’Angelo Russell
D’Angelo Russell is one of the most polarizing Lakers in recent history. The 2015 No. 2 overall pick is certainly a talented player but has not adapted his game to produce winning basketball. Because of that, Magic Johnson had no problem shipping D’Lo off to get rid of Timofey Mozgov’s contract as the team prepared to draft Lonzo Ball in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Russell’s rookie season coincided with Kobe’s last season, and the hope was that Bryant would instill a winning culture that would help the 19-year-old as a pro. That never quite happened, although Russell had a solid rookie season alongside Bryant that earned him Rookie of the Year votes. Russell later admitted that he was too young and naive at the time to absorb Bryant’s teachings, although the lessons sank in later.
23. Steve Nash
Steve Nash would be much higher on this list if it were solely about the overall legacy of a player who shared the court with Bryant. This is all about their shared time together, though, and it’s an understatement to say that Nash’s Lakers tenure was disappointing.
Lakers fans will never outrun the hellscape that was the 2012-13 team. The “now this is going to be fun” Sports Illustrated cover lives on in infamy as one of the outlet's most ironic covers. Nash’s injury woes started as soon as his second game in the Purple and Gold, and he never escaped them. He did enough to make it on this list with 65 total games played across two seasons… but just barely.
22. Shannon Brown
Shannon Brown joined the Lakers at the perfect time. Los Angeles acquired Brown and Adam Morrison from the Charlotte Bobcats at the 2009 NBA trade deadline. Brown went on to spend two and a half years with the Lakers, winning two championships in the process.
Brown didn’t contribute much in his first half-season with the Lakers, but he did turn into a viable bench scorer in years two and three. He played all 164 games and averaged 8.4 points in 19.9 minutes per game across the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. Brown also spawned one of the best basketball memes when Kobe and the entire Lakers bench reacted to his incredible chase-down block that was called back for goaltending.
21. Smush Parker
Smush Parker is a bit of a meme at this point in Lakers history, but the facts are the facts: Parker had two productive seasons as the starting point guard alongside Bryant. They just came during a stretch between two separate title runs, so the actual production gets lost in the shuffle.
Parker played all 164 games during his two seasons with the Lakers averaging 11.3 points, 3.2 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game. Bryant later said Parker was “the worst” and shouldn’t have been in the NBA. The numbers say otherwise. Maybe we should take Kobe’s word for it, but it’s also indicative of the level of teammates Bryant had to play with in his career.
20. Julius Randle
Before he became an NBA journeyman, Julius Randle was the seventh overall pick for the Lakers in the 2014 NBA Draft and carried a lot of hype. In fact, Randle was the first player the Lakers took in the lottery since Andrew Bynum in 2005. Lakers fans had to wait an entire extra year to see their first lottery pick in action, as Randle suffered a season-ending injury in the first game of the 2014-15 season.
Thus, Randle essentially had one full season with Kobe as a teammate and had a similar season to Russell's. Kobe took the tough- love approach with Randle, one time even making him skip out on family time during a return home to Dallas to work out with Bryant instead.
19. Brian Shaw
Brian Shaw was not a better basketball player than those who rank behind him on this list. However, he did spend four years with the Lakers, was a part of two championships, and finished with the 13th-most games played of any former Kobe teammate. All those reasons help Shaw, a guard who averaged single-digit points during his Lakers tenure, rank on this list.
While he may not have been very impactful on the court, Shaw may have had a bigger impact on Bryant than any other teammate on this list. Shaw knew Bryant years before Kobe entered the league, having played against his father, Joe Bryant, overseas when Bryant was a kid. Eventually, Shaw would rejoin the Lakers as an assistant coach, giving him a new role for Bryant’s fourth and fifth championships.
18. Jordan Farmar
Jordan Farmar shared the court 356 times with Kobe throughout the regular season and playoffs, and while it wasn’t his doing, his .651 winning percentage in the playoffs is the third best among the 13 teammates who played as many playoff games as Farmar’s 69.
The Lakers drafted the Los Angeles native with the 26th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft in what was a special homecoming for the guard. Farmar grew up a Lakers fan and played college ball at UCLA, making him an easy fan favorite upon his arrival. Farmar never quite turned into someone who was all that impactful, but he was a decent enough bench guard on two different title-winning teams. That means something.
17. Sasha Vujacic
Sasha Vujacic would top this list if it were about the most underrated players to use in NBA 2K9. I can’t tell you how many times I’d bring Vujacic off the bench to absolutely torch the computer to save my perfect Lakers season. And yes, I played on the easiest difficulty. I was 10 years old.
In terms of his actual legacy, Vujacic is most well known for hitting some of the most clutch free throws a role player has ever hit. Vujacic stepped up to the foul line with 11.7 seconds left in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals and drained both free throws to extend the Lakers’ lead to four. Kobe’s legacy theoretically could be much different if his backup hadn't made the biggest shots of his life in the most important moment imaginable. Numbers be damned, that carries Vujacic on this list above other former teammates with better statistical resumes.
16. Luke Walton
Luke Walton’s last tenure with the Lakers was as a head coach who was perhaps in over his head after an interim stint with the Golden State Warriors made him look like the next great basketball mind. Before his mediocre three-year run as head coach, Walton was a steady role player on the Lakers.
Walton was never better than the fifth-best player on the Lakers, and he never came close to living up to his dad’s mighty shadow. He did, however, play 543 games with Kobe, which is the fourth-most of any player throughout Bryant’s career. Walton’s best season was the 2006-07 campaign, in which he averaged 11.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game.
15. Jordan Clarkson
Jordan Clarkson is the highest-ranked player among the next generation of players who shared the court with Kobe during his final years in the league. Clarkson was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft and instantly made a statistical difference on a Lakers team that wasn’t very good.
Clarkson averaged 14.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game in his two years with Kobe. He also has the distinct honor of being on the receiving end of Kobe’s last-ever assist in the NBA. Ironically enough, Clarkson’s Lakers career eventually ended as he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a move that created cap space for LeBron James to join the team the following summer.
14. Devean George
Devean George is a prime example of someone who is carried by his longevity alongside Kobe more than the ceiling he reached when he was with the Lakers. The 23rd pick in the 1999 NBA Draft never averaged double-digit points in a season, but he did play the eighth-most games of any Kobe teammate and was on the roster for each of the three championship seasons at the turn of the millennium.
Bryant was a keen supporter of George behind closed doors, even if the forward wasn’t a massive difference-maker. According to George, it was Kobe who put pressure on the Lakers' front office to pay him what he was worth once his first contract with the team expired. That’s why he lasted seven years as Bryant’s teammate.
13. Caron Butler
Caron Butler is the forgotten member of the infamous Shaquille O’Neal trade to the Miami Heat. Well before he became an All-Star, Butler was a key piece in one of the biggest trades in NBA history that resulted in Miami’s first championship.
Despite having a productive season in LA in which he developed a close bond with Kobe, Butler lasted just one season with the Lakers following the trade. Los Angeles traded Butler to the Washington Wizards in a package that brought back Kwame Brown, who did not come close to making this list of Kobe teammates. Butler went on to make two All-Star appearances with the Wizards.
12. Trevor Ariza
With more time playing alongside Kobe, Trevor Ariza easily could have entered the top 10 and might have even threatened for the top five. Instead, the two-way forward slots in right outside the top 10 due to his importance on a title-winning Lakers team.
The Lakers traded for Ariza during the 2007-08 season, but the combination of a foot injury and unfamiliarity kept him from doing much in the purple and gold. The following year, though, Ariza emerged as one of the most important role players on the Lakers as a defensive anchor at the three.
Ariza's overall stats don't jump off the page, but his performance in the 2009 NBA Playoffs does. He started all 23 games and averaged 11.3 points in 31.4 minutes per game. Ariza was the best possible three-and-D role player imaginable in the playoffs that year as he drained 47.6% of his shots from three.
11. Dwight Howard
Like Nash, Dwight Howard would be near the top of this list if it were all about career accomplishments. Howard was the best defensive big man of his generation and willed the Orlando Magic to an NBA Finals appearance, where he fittingly lost to Kobe and the Lakers.
The Lakers tried to find lightning in a bottle twice with a former great Magic center and traded for Howard ahead of the 2012-13 season. His lone season in LA didn’t go as planned. Injuries delayed his debut and his lack of chemistry with Bryant handicapped their play together. Right when the team started meshing and playing well, Bryant tore his Achilles and left Howard to lose in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
10. Glen Rice
Glen Rice only played 120 games alongside Kobe Bryant, which is 37th among all of Bryant’s former teammates. Those 120 games were certainly impactful, though, carrying Rice to a top-10 honor on this list.
The Lakers traded the No. 9 player on this list (more on him next) for Rice, who was coming off three consecutive All-Star seasons with the Hornets. Rice didn’t recapture his MVP-vote-getting form from two years prior, but he did put together two really solid seasons as the third-best scorer on a great Lakers team. He played a key role in Bryant’s first championship in 2000 by averaging 12.4 points on 41.8% three-point shooting in the playoffs. He started all 23 playoff games.
9. Eddie Jones
Eddie Jones was a better player than Glen Rice when he was with the Lakers, which is why he ranks higher on this list. But the Lakers needed to trade Jones to free up Bryant to eventually contend for a championship. Trading a multiple-time All-Star is never easy for a team to do, but in the Lakers’ case, it worked out beautifully.
Jones made two All-Star games and two All-Defensive Second Teams with the Lakers prior to the trade. He was blocking Bryant from starting, though, which is why the Lakers had to flip him for Rice in the first place. Jones was to Kobe what Kobe was to the next generation of Lakers players in the mid-2010s: a mentor.
8. Rick Fox
After a six-year stint with the hated Boston Celtics, Rick Fox jumped ship and spent seven seasons with Kobe and the Lakers. When it was all said and done, Fox finished with the fifth-most games played alongside Bryant of any of his former teammates. They won three championships together.
Fox is essentially the better version of Luke Walton for a more successful Lakers team. He was a better defender than Walton, not as good a scorer, and was never better than the fifth-best player on the team. Most importantly, he knew his role and knew when the Lakers needed him to step up. Fox averaged 9.9 points in 35.0 minutes per game spread across the final two titles of the three-peat.
7. Andrew Bynum
It’s well known that Bryant wouldn’t have his fourth and fifth championships with the Lakers if it weren't for a certain trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. It’s less talked about how the same could be said if the Lakers hadn't drafted Andrew Bynum with the 10th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. It took some time for Bynum to reach his full potential, but once he did, he was the third-most important player on two title-winning teams.
Bynum was thrust into the spotlight at such a young age as well. He was only 21 when the Lakers won the first of back-to-back championships and still held his own despite the pressure. Bynum would later develop into a legitimate All-Star-caliber center whose career was cut far too short because of bad knees and the NBA’s eventual transition to bigs who can shoot.
6. Metta Sandiford-Artest
Vujacic’s clutch free throws to win Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals wouldn't have happened if not for a clutch three by Metta Sandiford-Artest earlier in the fourth quarter. In a game that was an absolute rock fight, Sandiford-Artest arguably hit the biggest shot that completely changed Bryant’s legacy in the NBA.
Fresh off an NBA championship, the Lakers signed Sandiford-Artest to a five-year deal in the 2009 offseason, and he was certainly worth every penny. He was the defensive stopper on the wing that the Lakers needed to repeat as champions and continued to be an impact player throughout his entire Lakers tenure. Sandiford-Artest would eventually return to share Kobe’s last season on the Lakers, playing one more year in LA before calling it quits himself.
5. Lamar Odom
The Lakers may not have gotten an All-Star in return for Shaquille O’Neal, but they got one of Kobe Bryant’s best-ever teammates. Lamar Odom was the best player coming back to the Lakers in the Shaq trade, and he parlayed that into the third-most games played alongside Bryant of any former teammate.
Odom was never an All-Star, but he was consistently the third-or fourth-most important player on every version of the Lakers. He filled up the box score early on while the Lakers were a bad basketball team and then took what many others would consider a demotion when he became one of the best sixth men in the league for the back-to-back title teams.
4. Robert Horry
Robert Horry’s place on this list is certainly up for debate, but his impact on the Lakers and Kobe’s career is not. Big Shot Rob wound up winning seven championships in total during his NBA career, three of which came as a key role player on the three-peat Lakers.
Horry’s biggest moment with the Lakers came in the 2002 Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings. Down 2-1 in the series, Horry caught a tipped rebound from Vlade Divac and drained a three at the buzzer to give the Lakers a 100-99 victory. Los Angeles avoided the dreaded 3-1 deficit and went on to beat the Kings in seven games.
Horry has the sixth-most games played alongside Kobe at 516. He received Sixth Man of the Year votes in 2002.
3. Derek Fisher
Even with a sabbatical in between, Derek Fisher was alongside Kobe Bryant for all five of his championships with the Lakers. Fisher’s role varied on each of the title teams, and he was never one of the three best players, but the stability he brought to the point guard position was impossible to ignore.
Fisher’s 1,037 games played alongside Bryant is almost double that of second place on the list. Their 847 regular-season games together are the seventh-most in NBA history for any duo.
Fisher’s most iconic moment came in the 2004 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs. Fisher drained a shot off an inbound pass with 0.4 seconds on the clock to beat the Spurs and go up 3-2 in the series.
2. Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol saved Kobe Bryant’s Lakers legacy. It’s not a secret that Bryant was unhappy with his situation in Los Angeles and was even nearly traded to the Chicago Bulls. If the Lakers never go out and get Gasol, there’s a real chance Bryant leaves Los Angeles altogether and chases Michael Jordan’s legacy with a different team.
Instead, the Lakers traded for Gasol and brought two more championships to the trophy case. Gasol gave the Lakers the second star they needed to win those titles, and his number now hangs in the rafters. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that Gasol was the best player on the Lakers in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, even if Kobe took home Finals MVP.
1. Shaquille O’Neal
I mean, could it have been anyone else? You knew Shaq was going to rank No. 1 on this list before you even clicked into it. Shaq is one of the most dominant players in NBA history, and Bryant got a front-row seat to his dominance during the team’s three straight titles.
Despite the differences that eventually led to Shaq being traded, the duo might genuinely go down as the best twosome in NBA history. Yes, the likes of Magic and Kareem, Jordan and Pippen, and Curry and Durant all have their own case for the illustrious title. It's just hard to argue against pairing a dominant center who couldn't be stopped with the best scorer and hardest worker of his generation.
If egos hadn't gotten in the way, and the timelines had lined up more appropriately, Kobe and Shaq absolutely could have challenged MJ and Pippen’s six championships together. Either way, Shaq is without a doubt the best teammate Bryant ever shared a locker room with.
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