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Los Angeles Lakers: Top 30 greatest players of all-time

By Ben Beecken

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 13: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts in the first half while taking on the Utah Jazz at Staples Center on April 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 13: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts in the first half while taking on the Utah Jazz at Staples Center on April 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers, Nick Van Exel
27 Feb 1997: Guard Nick Van Exel of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles the ball during a game against the Washington Bullets at the US Air Arena in Landover, Maryland. The Lakers won the game 122-107. /

Nick Van Exel. 28. player. 20. . Point Guard. Los Angeles Lakers

  • 5 seasons with Lakers (1993-98)
  • Averaged 14.9 points and 7.3 assists per game
  • 1x All-Star with Lakers

Nick Van Exel was the 10th pick of the second round of the 1993 NBA Draft out of the University of Cincinnati, but stepped in and started 80 games as a rookie for the 1993-94 Lakers.

That Lakers team featured Vlade Divac, Anthony Peeler, and Elden Campbell as its best players, so there was ample opportunity for the rookie point guard to assert himself. And he did just that for a series of decent Lakers teams.

After winning just 33 games in Van Exel’s rookie year, the 1994-95 Lakers won 48 games and made it to the second round of the playoffs. The next year, they achieved 53 wins but succumbed to a first-round exit to the Houston Rockets.

Then, in 1996-97, Shaquille O’Neal joined the team as a free agent and 18-year-old Kobe Bryant burst on to the scene. That squad won 56 regular season games and lost to the Utah Jazz in the second round of postseason play. Van Exel averaged 15.3 points and 8.5 assists per game, initiating a top-10 offense.

In 1997-98, Van Exel made his lone All-Star appearance as the 61-win Lakers made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before losing once again to the Jazz.

Nick the Quick left L.A. and embarked on somewhat of a journeyman’s career, spending the next three-plus years in Denver, then a year and a half in Dallas, and finally one year in each of Golden State, Portland, and San Antonio.

Van Exel was always more of a shoot-first point guard, and was a bit ahead of his time when it came to launching 3-pointers, averaging 5.5 3-point attempts per game over his five seasons in a Lakers uniform.

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