Who's The Greatest Laker Ever? Most NBA Execs Rank Magic Over Kobe
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — As the Kobe Bryant farewell tour continues to roll into 2016, when it comes to the greatest Laker of all time, most NBA insiders believe it's Magic.
Nearly 70 percent of NBA executives and coaches say Earvin "Magic" Johnson was the greatest Laker ever, according to an ESPN report.
Of the 65 respondents, 45 gave Johnson the top spot, compared with Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who tied for second with seven votes apiece.
With five NBA titles each, Johnson and Bryant both won all their championships in Los Angeles. Abdul-Jabbar won a title with the Bucks before he joined the Lakers in 1975.
Jerry West, whose image from his playing days was adopted as the league's official logo, received five votes.
Only one voter named Wilt Chamberlain, who played just five season with the Lakers and remains the only NBA player to ever score 100 points in a single game, as the greatest Laker ever.
ESPN's Chris Broussard noted out of all the candidates, West posted better career stats - 27 points, 6.7 assists, 5.8 rebounds per game - for his career than either Johnson or Bryant.
Shaquille O'Neal, who dominated the paint over eight seasons with the Lakers on his way to three NBA rings and two NBA Finals MVP awards, was noticeably absent from the survey.
But Magic himself may not agree with the survey's findings: shortly after Kobe announced the 2015-16 season would be his last, Johnson said the Black Mamba is "the closest thing we've seen to Michael Jordan" and will probably end up being considered the second-greatest shooting guard of all-time.
