Lakers: Five superstars the Lakers acquired past their prime

Dennis Rodman (1998-1999)

Dennis Rodman was one season off of becoming the first player ever to win an NBA championship on three different teams. While John Salley and Robert Horry have accomplished the feat since Rodman would have made NBA history were he to join the Lakers in their championship pursuit in 1999-2000.

Before becoming a Laker, Rodman won two championships with the Bad Boy Pistons and three with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Rodman was a defensive menace in the 1990s and was a key factor to both teams winning the gold. Rodman is an eight-time recipient of All-Defensive team honors and won the Defensive Player of the Year twice.

In his first seven seasons with the Detroit Pistons Rodman averaged 8.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and won consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1990 and 1991. As a Chicago Bull, Rodman averaged 5.2 points and 15.3 rebounds per game. While Rodman was never the most prolific scorer, he was able to shut down the best players of the 1990s.

Rodman then joined the Lakers in what would be his second to last season in the NBA. The defensive menace only played 23 games with the Lakers before being released averaging 2.1 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.

While adding Rodman may not have changed the Lakers’ dry spell in the mid-nineties, it would have been interesting to see a prime Rodman paired with a dominant O’Neal. However, the timetables did not match and the Lakers merely got a shell of Rodman’s former self.