Kobe Bryant wouldn’t even make the starting lineup of my all-time Los Angeles Lakers team. He’s a great player, sure, and I suspect he’ll be elected into the pro basketball hall of fame as soon as he’s eligible. But my all-time Lakers team has two guys ahead of Bryant who made every player around them better.
The Lakers franchise has had a lot of championship teams and great players make champions. But the greatest Laker of them all never took the court for the club, yet went decades without missing a game. Chick Hearn, the play-by-play man, was the best there ever was at what he did. Hearn introduced the game to Los Angeles and explained it to generations of listeners. Simply a great communicator.
There is a statue of Hearn at the Staples Center. How many announcers get statues? That’s what he meant to the franchise. He’s gone now but I still miss the sound of his voice during basketball season. The Lakers will never sound the same to me. Heck, the game will never sound the same.
My point guard? No question about it, Magic Johnson. Best basketball player I ever saw, regardless of position. He lifted the players around him, made them better. They had to be alert when Magic had the ball because you never knew when the next sensational pass might be coming your way. The first time I saw him in person was during his rookie year. The Lakers were playing the Clippers when the Clippers still played in San Diego. I remember a fast breaking, one-handed push pass from half court. Johnson hit a streaking teammate for a layup and I had to admit the hype surrounding Magic might have been accurate.
The off guard on this mythical team is Jerry West. No room for argument here. Great defensive player, great clutch performer. Great scorer. West was so good, the NBA emblem is designed after him.
Elgin Baylor makes this team as the three spot, the small forward. I had a hard time with this spot because I wanted to put James Worthy here. But Baylor gets the nod.
The big forward is a tough spot to choose. I thought about cheating and dropping George Mikan’s name in this spot. Mikan is a Hall of Famer, a center when the Lakers won championships as the Minneapolis Lakers. He was such a tremendous player that I suspect he’d have been an outstanding power forward had he played in the current era. But I couldn’t cheat, so I had to go with a very different kind of player.
My power forward is Kurt Rambis. For hustle, selflessness and grit you can’t beat Rambis. Fans loved him. On this team, scoring is not an issue. Rambis would help with rebounding and attitude.
The post spot was the toughest call on the team. Most of the best postmen of all time have played for the Lakers and my favorite is Wilt Chamberlain. But, much as I liked watching Wilt play, I can’t choose him over Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Jabbar is the greatest scorer in the history of the game, played well on defense and rebounded efficiently. On top of that, when he played with Magic, Jabbar was simply brilliant at firing up the fast break with outlet passes.
So I’d start Johnson, West, Baylor, Rambis and Jabbar. The bench players are below:
Guards: Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Gail Goodrich
Forwards: James Worthy, Jamal Wilks, Michael Cooper
Center: Chamberlain, Mikan
I’d want Pat Riley to be the coach, with all due respect to Phil Jackson. Riley’s offense would work best with the team I have listed here.
West would be the general manager. Jerry Buss would be the owner. And Chick Hearn would call the play-by-play.
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