Whenever discussing the best players in basketball history, it is impossible not to bring up the Los Angeles Lakers organization considering how many legends have played for them.
The Lakers have won 16 NBA championships, second-most behind the Boston Celtics (17), and have had countless star players along the way like Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and most recently LeBron James.
With sports on hold due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the history of basketball has become a big topic on social media among NBA fans. That has led people to come up with all-time lists, and former Celtics center Kendrick Perkins became the latest to do so.
The current ESPN analyst came up with his all-time starting five, and two Lakers in James and O’Neal were present along with Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant and Kevin Garnett:
My All-Time Starting 5….
PG- LeBron James
SG- Michael Jordan
SF- Kevin Durant
PF- Kevin Garnett
Center- Shaq
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 4, 2020
It’s clear that Perkins prioritized putting more modern players that he played against on his list, which led to James and O’Neal making it over Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar, respectively.
It is interesting that he decided to list James as a point guard even though he has technically been a small forward throughout the course of his career, although it allowed him to Durant on as well to give his team some shooting.
Arguably the most controversial pick on the list is Garnett, although it’s not a big surprise considering he and Perkins played together on the Celtics. They defeated L.A. to win the 2008 NBA championship, although Bryant and the Lakers returned the favor in 2010 by winning Game 7 at Staples Center when Perkins was injured.
One thing that isn’t arguable is that the Lakers organization can put up the best all-time roster in the league. A starting five of Johnson, Bryant, James, Abdul-Jabbar and O’Neal with countless other former All-Stars coming off the bench would easily beat any other organization’s all-time roster.