Lakers: Five superstars the Lakers acquired past their prime
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers, along with the Boston Celtics, are the most prestigious organization in the NBA. Some of the sport’s biggest stars have donned purple and gold.
Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal. Those are just six of many great names that have been a part of the Los Angeles Lakers history books. Los Angeles’ 23 Hall of Fame members trails just the Boston Celtics 25; some of the biggest names in basketball have been a Laker.
However, there have been some mega superstars that have joined the Lakers far after their prime. Whether it was a last push for a career or hopping on a title contending team, some really big names have joined the Lakers far past their best playing years.
These five guys, if they joined in their primes, would certainly pad the already long history of the Los Angeles Lakers. Therefore, here are five superstars the Lakers brought in past their primes.
Wilt Chamberlain (1968-1973)
This may sound crazy, and well, it kind of is. Wilt Chamberlain was one of the most dominant players in basketball history, a true pioneer of the game that was far ahead of his time. While it has been argued that Chamberlain may not be the same dominating force today as he was in the ’60s, he still goes down as one of the best centers in basketball history.
It seems even crazy to say Chamberlain was past his prime in LA considering he won two NBA Championships, an MVP and made five all-star teams. However, although he was still one of the best in the NBA, the Lakers did miss out on Chamberlain’s most dominant years.
As a Laker, Chamberlain averaged 17.7 points and 19.2 rebounds a game, utter dominance. However, In Chamberlain’s first six seasons in the league, he averaged 41.5 points and 25.1 rebounds per game. Chamberlain was posting video game numbers before video games even existed.
At the end of the day, the Lakers still did get dominance out of Wilt Chamberlain in his five years in LA. However, they did miss out on the most dominant stretch in NBA history.