Celebrating 75 years of the Los Angeles Lakers - Los Angeles Times

Celebrating 75 years of the Lakers

With the Lakers celebrating their 75th anniversary this season, The Times looks back at the people and moments that made the team one of the most successful franchises in sports.

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Current and former L.A. Times staff members selected the 75 greatest Lakers players as the club prepares for its diamond jubilee.

Magic, Kobe and Kareem were listed first, second or third on five of six ballots, with Jerry West a close fourth. The L.A. Times panelists discuss why.

L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke gives his take on the 75 greatest players in Lakers history.

When debating the greatest players in Lakers history, LeBron James is likely the most talented of them all, but only tied for seventh in an L.A. Times poll.

He’s still here. He still lives among us. He’s in our daily struggles. He’s in our personal triumphs. He’s in our last-second defensive stops or buzzer-beating shots or wherever we require that Mamba Mentality. Even amid a pandemic in which nobody is supposed to be anywhere, Kobe is everywhere.

His last name is printed on jerseys that have become the city’s unofficial uniform. His first name is in chants that suddenly break out among socially distanced friends. His face is on city murals that have become drive-by tourist attractions.

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