Every era of Lakers basketball, one lineup. These are the five highest-rated Lakers legends across the 1960s to today, chosen by iKnoBall's era-adjusted engine — and the record they'd post over a full 82-game season.
Two bigs or a wing-heavy five? That's the engine optimizing for pure rating — exactly the debate iKnoBall is built to settle. Think you'd start a different five? Prove it.
Magic Johnson anchors the group at a 97 overall — the kind of number only genuine all-time greats reach on iKnoBall's scale. Around Johnson, the model fills out a starting five that balances scoring, playmaking and defense across Lakers history, then simulates all 82 games. The result — 79–3 — reflects both the raw talent and how the pieces fit: a lineup that covers every role and avoids stacking too many ball-dominant scorers projects higher than one built on names alone.
Every Lakers legend in the iKnoBall pool, ranked by era-adjusted overall. The top five above start; the rest form the bench and the debate.
| Player | Era | Pos | PPG | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2000s | C | 29.7 | 98 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 1970s | C | 27.7 | 97 |
| Magic Johnson | 1980s | PG | 23.9 | 97 |
| Kobe Bryant | 2000s | SG | 35.4 | 97 |
| Jerry West | 1960s | SG | 31.3 | 95 |
| LeBron James | 2020s | SF | 30.3 | 95 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | 1970s | C | 20.7 | 94 |
| Elgin Baylor | 1960s | SF | 38.3 | 91 |
| Anthony Davis | 2020s | C | 24.7 | 91 |
| Dwight Howard | 2010s | C | 17.1 | 86 |
| James Worthy | 1980s | SF | 21.1 | 85 |
| Pau Gasol | 2010s | C | 18.8 | 85 |
| Russell Westbrook | 2020s | PG | 19.4 | 84 |
| Lamar Odom | 2000s | PF | 15.7 | 82 |
| Ron Artest | 2000s | SF | 18.3 | 82 |
| Norm Nixon | 1980s | PG | 17.1 | 81 |
| Cedric Ceballos | 1990s | SF | 21.7 | 81 |
| Vlade Divac | 1990s | C | 12.9 | 81 |
| Lonzo Ball | 2010s | PG | 10.2 | 81 |
| Gail Goodrich | 1970s | PG | 25.9 | 80 |
| Jamaal Wilkes | 1970s | SF | 18.6 | 79 |
| Byron Scott | 1980s | SG | 21.7 | 79 |
| Eddie Jones | 1990s | SG | 15.9 | 79 |
| Julius Randle | 2010s | PF | 13.2 | 79 |
| D'Angelo Russell | 2020s | PG | 18.0 | 79 |
| A.C. Green | 1980s | PF | 12.0 | 78 |
| Nick Van Exel | 1990s | PG | 13.6 | 78 |
| Brandon Ingram | 2010s | SF | 16.1 | 78 |
| Austin Reaves | 2020s | SG | 15.9 | 78 |
| Rudy LaRusso | 1960s | PF | 17.5 | 77 |
| Jim McMillian | 1970s | SF | 18.8 | 77 |
| Michael Cooper | 1980s | SG | 10.9 | 76 |
| Kurt Rambis | 1980s | PF | 8.6 | 76 |
| Robert Horry | 2000s | PF | 8.6 | 76 |
| Steve Nash | 2010s | PG | 12.7 | 76 |
| Dick Barnett | 1960s | SG | 18.6 | 75 |
| Tom Hawkins | 1960s | PF | 14.1 | 75 |
| Rick Fox | 2000s | SF | 11.4 | 75 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 2020s | PF | 7.3 | 75 |
| Leroy Ellis | 1960s | C | 10.2 | 74 |
| Derek Fisher | 2000s | PG | 11.0 | 73 |
| Lonnie Walker IV | 2020s | SG | 14.3 | 73 |
Draft your own all-time Lakers — or any franchise across five sports — set your starting five, and sim a full season chasing a perfect 82–0. Free to play.
Draft Your All-Time FiveGet the AppBy iKnoBall's era-adjusted ratings the all-time Lakers starting five is Magic Johnson (Point Guard, 1980s), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Center, 1970s), Kobe Bryant (Shooting Guard, 2000s), Jerry West (Shooting Guard, 1960s), Shaquille O'Neal (Center, 2000s). Together they project to a 79–3 regular season.
iKnoBall's simulation projects this five at 79–3 over an 82-game season, with an average starter rating of 97. The model runs each game as a probability from the lineup's combined strength, so an all-time five contends for a near-perfect year but nothing is guaranteed.
Each player's overall is built from era-adjusted box-score production (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defense) and anchored to the reputations of established greats, so a 25-point scorer in the 1960s and today are measured on the same scale. Only true legends reach the 90s.
Yes — iKnoBall is a free game where you draft one legend per era, set your starting five, and simulate a full season chasing a perfect 82–0. Play it free at play.iknoball.com.
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Ratings are era-adjusted and computed by iKnoBall's simulation engine. Records are model projections for entertainment, not predictions. Player names belong to their respective owners; iKnoBall is an independent fan-made game.