Greatest Lakers of all time

Magic Johnson▲ Rising

A 6'9" rookie point guard jumping center in Game 6 of the 1980 Finals and dropping 42 points to close out Philadelphia announced that basketball's future had arrived early. Five rings, three MVPs, and a Showtime aesthetic built around no-look passes and open-floor joy made him the sport's great democratizer, proving size and vision could coexist in one impossible package. He's the soul of the Lakers' golden age, and no player better embodies the franchise's glamour-and-greatness identity.

Titles: 5Signature stat: 19.5

added by IJRin 10 rankingsMagic Johnson

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar▲ Rising

The skyhook was basically unblockable and unkillable, carrying him to six MVPs and five Lakers titles across a career that spanned Showtime's birth to its twilight. He arrived from Milwaukee already a legend and then became the sturdy, cerebral backbone Magic's flash needed to actually win. Retiring as the NBA's all-time leading scorer, a record that stood for nearly four decades, he's the most statistically decorated Laker ever and a legitimate answer to who's the greatest of all time.

Titles: 5Signature stat: 24.6

added by IJRin 7 rankingsKareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kobe Bryant▲ Rising

An 81-point night against Toronto and a Game 7 Finals masterpiece against Boston in 2010 capture the ferocity of a man who treated basketball like a blood feud with mediocrity. Five championships — three alongside Shaq, two as the unquestioned alpha — and a Mamba Mentality that outlived him as cultural shorthand for relentless self-improvement. He is the Lakers' identity made flesh: purple-and-gold ruthlessness, one fadeaway at a time.

Titles: 5Signature stat: 25

added by IJRin 10 rankingsKobe Bryant

Shaquille O'Neal▲ Rising

From 2000 to 2002 he was simply unguardable, a 340-pound freight train who won three straight Finals MVPs and made backboards, defenders, and entire seasons collapse under him. Paired with Kobe in a partnership that was equal parts combustible and unbeatable, he gave the Lakers their first three-peat since the Showtime era. His prime remains the most physically dominant stretch in franchise history, a peak nobody else on this list quite matched.

Titles: 3Signature stat: 23.7

added by IJRin 6 rankingsShaquille O'Neal

Jerry West

Mr. Clutch hit a 60-foot buzzer-beater to send a 1970 Finals game to overtime, the kind of shot that defined a career spent perpetually near the mountaintop of a Celtics-dominated era. He made the Finals nine times and finally broke through in 1972, but his true legacy is bigger than rings: he's the silhouette on the NBA logo and later built the Showtime dynasty as an executive. Few figures are as woven into both the Lakers' playing history and its front-office genius.

Titles: 1Signature stat: 27

added by IJRin 6 rankingsJerry West

Wilt Chamberlain▼ Falling

He'd already rewritten the record book in Philly and San Francisco, but joining LA in 1968 gave him the stage for a 1972 championship run and a then-record 33-game win streak that remains one of the sport's most absurd achievements. His rebounding numbers as a Laker are still statistically alien — an athlete so dominant the league changed rules to contain him. The ring completed a résumé that otherwise risked being remembered only for gaudy stats over team success.

Titles: 1Signature stat: 30.1

added by IJRin 7 rankingsWilt Chamberlain

LeBron James▼ Falling

Arriving in 2018 as a rare outside superstar signing, he delivered the 2020 bubble championship, adding a fourth ring to a resume that eventually made him the NBA's all-time leading scorer while wearing purple and gold. Watching him orchestrate offenses into his late 30s, still elite, reframed what longevity at the highest level could look like for a franchise built on legendary careers. His Lakers tenure is shorter than the icons above him, but the argument for greatness transcends any one uniform.

Titles: 1Signature stat: 27.1

added by IJRin 12 rankingsLeBron James

Elgin Baylor▼ Falling

A gravity-defying scorer and leaper who essentially invented the modern high-flying wing game, he dropped 61 points in a Finals game in 1962, a record that stood for decades. He and West carried the Lakers to eight Finals appearances without ever winning it, a heartbreaking but foundational chapter that set the stage for the franchise's later glory. His artistry off the dribble influenced everyone from Dr. J to Jordan, making him the aesthetic godfather of Lakers basketball despite the missing rings.

Titles: 0Signature stat: 27.4

added by IJRin 2 rankingsElgin Baylor