LA Lakers: Top 5 point-guards of all time
The LA Lakers are one of the most iconic franchises in the history of the NBA. They have 16 NBA Championships to their name, which is the second-most among the 30 teams in the league.
Not surprisingly, a plethora of legendary basketball players have donned the famous purple and gold in the team's 60 years of illustrious existence since the franchise shifted from Minneapolis to Los Angeles.
Today, we'll be looking at the top five point-guards to have played for the LA Lakers, starting from 1960 to the present day.
The point-guard position is perhaps the most important of all five positions in basketball. Also called the 'one', the point-guard of a team essentially makes the rest of the players tick. The point-guard is usually tasked with the responsibility of carrying the ball forward in offence and taking on playmaking duties.
However, many modern-day point-guards like Stephen Curry have a 'score first' mentality. The importance of the point-guard can be best gauged by the struggles of the current LA Lakers team in generating good offensive possessions in the absence of their prime playmaker LeBron James.
Without further ado, let us have a look at the top five point guards to have played for LA Lakers.
Top five point-guards in LA Lakers history:
#5: Norm Nixon (1977-1983)
Points per game - 16.4
Assists per game - 7.9
Rebounds per game - 2.7
Norm Nixon was the 22nd pick of the 1977 NBA draft. The 6' 2" point-guard hailing from Duquesne was an instant hit with the Lakers and proved to be one of the steals of his draft class. He averaged a solid 13.7 points and 6.8 assists in his rookie season, which earned him a spot in the 1977-78 NBA All-Rookie first-team.
Nixon also played a large chunk of his LA Lakers career as a shooting guard after the arrival of Magic Johnson in the squad. But his playmaking statistics continued to be impressive despite the presence of another floor general.
He averaged nearly eight assists per game in his six seasons with the Lake Show. A lot of other players like Nick Van Exel could have made the top-5 LA Lakers spot, but Nixon is here due to his vital contributions in his team's NBA Championship runs in 1980 and 1982.
#4: Derek Fisher (1996-2004, 2007-2012)
Points per game - 7.9
Assists per game - 2.9
Rebounds per game - 2.1
When one goes through Derek Fisher's statistics during his 18-year long NBA career, it hardly makes for impressive reading.
However, Fisher's impact on the franchise was much greater than numbers could have suggested. To put it in a nutshell, LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant never won a single NBA title without Derek Fisher by his side - such was the winning mentality Fisher brought to the squad.
Fisher never came close to making an All-Star team, and the most he ever averaged in a purple-and-gold kit was 11.7 points. Despite not being a skilled scorer, Fisher was a very handy 3-point shooter. He knocked down shots from downtown at an efficiency of 37.5% during his days with LA Lakers.
He also put in a real shift defensively, making use of his relatively short 6' 1" frame to get a steal per game.
Also Read: Los Angeles Lakers: Top 5 highest-paid players.
#3: Gail Goodrich (1965-68, 1970-76)
Points per game - 19.0
Assists per game - 4.2
Rebounds per game - 3.0
One of the most underrated NBA players of all time, Gail 'the stump' Goodrich, is one of only 11 players to have his jersey retired by the LA Lakers. Goodrich, like Nixon, played a lot of his minutes as a shooting guard as well.
Gail Goodrich, a 5-time NBA All-Star, helped LA Lakers to the 1971-72 NBA Championship title by averaging 26 points per game with a nearly 50% efficiency from the field.
Goodrich was a score-first guard at a time when big men were the dominant forces in the NBA. Even with a height of just 6' 1", Goodrich managed to make his way into NBA folklore and is now a member of the competition's prestigious Hall of Fame.
#2: Jerry West (1960-1974)
Points per game - 27.0
Assists per game - 6.7
Rebounds per game - 5.8
Jerry West is one of the greatest players to have ever played in the NBA and the player many believe is the silhouette in the league's logo. He is the idol of every young guard who aims to become professional.
West entered the NBA aged 22 as a second overall pick for the LA Lakers. He played in the competition till he was 36, yet he didn't miss an All-Star game in any of his 14 NBA seasons.
Jerry West is the epitome of the perfect NBA player as he did just about everything and was excellent in them all. He was the 1969-70 scoring champion and also the 1971-72 assists champion. which proves that he was the complete package offensively.
The former LA Lakers player also made it to 5 all-defensive teams, which was a remarkable feat for a 6' 2" player. He was the MVP of the league in 1971-72 and the finals MVP in 1968-69. West is a true legend and would have been number one in almost any other franchise's top-5 point-guards list of all time.
#1: Magic Johnson (1979-1991, 1995-1996)
Points per game - 19.5
Assists per game - 11.2
Rebounds per game - 7.2
Not just for the LA Lakers, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson is arguably the best point-guard to have ever played the game. Magic Johnson was easily the best floor general the NBA has ever witnessed.
At his prime, Johnson was virtually unplayable. The towering 6' 9" guard could handle the ball as if he was a foot shorter. He was also ridiculously fast. There is reason to believe that his statistics would have been even more outrageous if he played in today's fast-paced league.
Magic Johnson's CV is phenomenal, to say the least. He is a 12-time NBA All-Star, 4-time assists champion, 2-time steals champion, 5-time NBA champion and 3-time MVP. He also made it to 10 All-NBA teams in his career.
He is one of the most efficient scorers of all time, making 52% of his shots throughout his career. Johnson was the kind of guard who had seasons when he averaged ten rebounds a game, and then seasons when he averaged over 13 assists.
Johnson also had several seasons of scoring above 20 points per game and seasons when he had over three steals. The former LA Lakers player is certainly one of the most complete ones to have graced the game and was nothing short of a sporting specimen.
Also Read: Top 5 LA Lakers teams of all time.