The Lakers Dominate Top Players In NBA History List
With the upcoming NBA season representing the 75th anniversary of the world’s best basketball league, USA Today decided the time was opportune to list the 75 best players ever to take part in the acclaimed division.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, but most welcomely for fans of the Staples Center side, a large number of Los Angeles Lakers’ legends made the grade, including some who are very much still making an impact on the court.
Embed from Getty Images12 Los Angeles Lakers stars made the list, and they included; 62: Carmelo Anthony, 57: Anthony Davis, 51: James Worthy, T40: Russell Westbrook, 19: Elgin Baylor, 14: Jerry West, 10: Shaquille O’Neal, 7: Kobe Bryant, 5: Wilt Chamberlain, 4: Magic Johnson, 3: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and 2: LeBron James.
The fact that no less than four of those on this list are part of Frank Vogel’s roster is very much a cause of optimism for Lakers fans. With the new season almost upon us, a quick glance at the NBA odds via sidelines shows that they are currently (+400) for the NBA title, second only to a Brooklyn Nets side that may well be without Kyrie Irving for much of the season.
The work done by Rob Pelinka during the off-season, bringing in stellar additions to boost a roster that was already pretty handy, has given LeBron and co a solid shot at reclaiming a title they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks last season.
There is perhaps some concern about the aging nature of Vogel’s roster, but that may well prove to be invaluable. While some could rightly claim that this Lakers side isn’t for the long-term, it is certainly more than capable of winning NBA titles in the here and now.
It is worth noting, with a grain of salt, that the Lakers didn’t look all that impressive in preseason action, going 0-6, but that may have as much to do with Vogel chopping and changing as he looks for the best starting line-up he can secure with his strong expansive roster.
Vogel was keen to play down the significance of the poor showing, stating;
“Not concerning, you don’t want to go winless. You want to get a couple of wins along the way, just to feel what it’s like. That’s the name of the game; we’re here to win basketball games, but at the end of the day, it’s really about the practice work; these are practice games. We’re working on things; we’re building rhythm and timing and all those things. We’re getting to the finish line of the preseason healthy; that’s the biggest thing…we’re really not concerned about it. I think we saw some flashes of who we gonna look like come next Tuesday.”
Indeed, preseason form isn’t the best indicator of how a team may shape up for a grueling 82-game regular season, and as such, it will be the opening encounter with Golden State on October 19th that will be a good challenge to measure up this Lakers side against.
