Los Angeles Lakers: Magic Johnson and the 40 greatest L.A. sports athletes

With a lot of great athletes coming from the Los Angeles Lakers and other teams, who is the best L.A. athlete in the last 40 years?

When you take 40 trips around the sun, you get to see a lot of things and when you’re a sports junkie you get to see a lot of great athletes. Turning 40 in Southern California means I’ve seen the best of the best, especially on the Los Angeles Lakers.

L.A. gets unfairly maligned for not being a sports town but that’s a ridiculous assertion. With the athletes that have walked the fields and arenas, L.A. has always had captive audiences ready to cheer.

With so many teams represented in professional sports and high-quality college sports programs, L.A. and Southern California have produced countless athletes that are counted as the best that ever played their sports. Thanks to these athletes, this writer and countless fans have seen championship parades roll down the streets and banners go up in the rafters.

These 40 athletes comprise the best that my eyes have seen in my 40 years on the planet.