Los Angeles Lakers: All-Time NBA Finals team

Power Forward: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is ahead of Shaquille O’Neal on almost every all-time player rankings you’ll find, so it would make sense to give the man with the more credible G.O.A.T. argument his preferred spot at center.

It seems wrong to put Kareem or Shaq on the bench, however, and since Kareem’s game is more rangy and smooth, he can play power forward on this team to give it an impossible-to-stop front line.

Kareem won five championships with the Lakers and one Finals MVP, which easily could’ve been two or three.

In 1980, Kareem was averaging 33.4 points, 13.6 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game before going down with an ankle injury that forced him to miss Game 6 against the 76ers. Magic Johnson took over that game and was voted Finals MVP, but to this day even Magic says the award should have gone to Kareem.

Kareem was voted Finals MVP when L.A. beat the Celtics in 1985, averaging 25.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. Even more impressive is that he was 38 years old at the time, and 14 years removed from when he won his first Finals MVP with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971. For reference, imagine Kawhi Leonard winning Finals MVP in 2028 after winning his first in 2014.

At 41 years old, Kareem won his last championship when the Lakers beat the Pistons in the 1988 Finals. Kareem has taken on less of a scoring load by then, but he had one last standout game when he scored 26 points in Game 5 of the series.