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Los Angeles Lakers: 10 best centers in team history

By Amaar Burton

LOS ANGELES - FEBRAURY 12: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal pose for photos during the American Express Celebrates the Rewarding Life of Earvin Johnson event on February 12, 2004 at the Shrine Auditorium 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 Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - FEBRAURY 12: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal pose for photos during the American Express Celebrates the Rewarding Life of Earvin Johnson event on February 12, 2004 at the Shrine Auditorium 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 Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Throughout their history as a franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers have had an embarrassment of riches at the center position.

Whether it was for a couple of decades or just a few months, the Los Angeles Lakers have suited up what seems like an unfair amount of the greatest NBA players of all time.

From Magic Johnson to Mitch Richmond, a total of 26 players who have been immortalized in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame played for the Lakers at some point. That number will grow shortly as names like Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and LeBron James inevitably enter the Hall.

The Lakers’ embarrassment of riches has not been more evident than at the center position.

Any credible list of the best centers in NBA history will be top-heavy with men who played for the Lakers. One could easily argue that the three greatest centers ever each played for the Lakers.

When ranking the 10 greatest Lakers at the position — based only on what they did during their tenure with the franchise — you start with men who are in the overall greatest of all-time conversation and run through a handful of Hall of Famers before you’re done.

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