Comments on: The Greatest Laker Ever™

By: Donald Lechman

Donald Lechman — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:10:09 +0000

that is supposed to be Wilt, not Wo;t

By: donlechman

donlechman — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 05:09:01 +0000

The greatest Lakers of all time in order, no argument are 1. Jerry West. 2. Magic Johnson.
3. Elgin Baylor. 4. Kareem Abdul-Jaabbar. 5. Kobe Bryant. 6. George Mikan. Wo;t and Shaq never played long enough for the Lakers. No one else is in the argument.

By: Buddy

Buddy — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:52:19 +0000

This is one of the best discussions regarding all-time greats that I've ever witnessed. Objectivity and numbers are balanced but not trumped by subjective analysis and theorizing. This is how it should be done.

Given the W/S metric, and maybe the SPM, who is statistically the greatest player ever?

P.S. I agree that Kobe didn't only have Smush and Kwame. Clearly he had Lamar and Caron, who both averaged over 15/game.

By: Sean

Sean — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:08:14 +0000

Melvin, I agree with pretty much of your last post.

By: Melvin

Melvin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 06:40:05 +0000

Sean: I won't argue it wasn't a remarkable turnaround - it clearly was and Bird was the primary cause. But there were also other factors involved that often get overlooked whenever it's brought up because people get too caught up in the Magic-Bird hype. I'm just saying that as great as those 2 were they never had a weak supporting cast their entire careers and during their '84-87 prime run LA and Boston were just stacked. I'd even argue Magic wasn't the best Laker until '86 when Kareem's declining defense and rebounding had slipped to the point where he was no longer a reliable defensive anchor - though he was still the team's go-to offensive player that year until turning things completely over to Magic in '87. And I agree wholeheartedly that Kobe isn't the GLOAT - I'd go with Magic with Kareem a very close second, West third and then Kobe, who beats Shaq because of longetivity.

By: Sean

Sean — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:55:07 +0000

The idea that Kobe is even being suggested as the GLOAT pains me. I'll give an emphatic 'no' to that question.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:13:41 +0000

JT Says: June 17th, 2010 at 4:30 pm Magic, in his prime, played with Kareem. And vice versa. >>>>>>>>>>> Kareem was 32 when Magic teamed with him. Gasol and Shaq's mean productivity (ppg, rpg) has been greater with Kobe than Kareem's was with Magic.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:11:16 +0000

Melvin Says: June 21st, 2010 at 3:00 pm Sean, Boston's turnaround during Bird's rookie year was a little inflated IMHO.>>>>> Well, the team was 29-53 the year before he got there. And 32-50 the year before that. They stunk for whatever reason. The turnaround was a 'little' inflated? How do I argue against that? It was still remarkable...

By: Melvin

Melvin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:00:59 +0000

Sean, Boston's turnaround during Bird's rookie year was a little inflated IMHO. Tiny Archibald was past his prime, but he was still an all-star caliber player in '80 as well as the next 2 years and Cowens averaged 14pts, 8 rebs and 3 assists while getting second-team all-defense honors that year. Both are in the HOF. Cedric Maxwell was also close to all-star caliber in '80 and his contributions in Boston's success from '80-85, especially '81, are criminally underrated. Boston had terrible coaching and team moral in '78 and Auerbach essentially threw the '79 season away in preparation for building things around Bird. That inflated the turnaround when Bird arrived. Bird had 3 quality teammates - 2 of which are in the HOF - to support him and let's not forget the impact of Bill Fitch as a coach; he played a big part in that turnaround.

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:50:45 +0000

Melvin Says: June 19th, 2010 at 4:06 am Srini, Magic and Bird never played with horrible supporting casts in the NBA >>>>>>>>>>>>> Bird inherited a team that went 29-53 the year before he got there. They were 32-50 the year before that. They stunk. Let's stop pretending they didn't.