From lockdown defenders to legendary scorers, the Los Angeles Lakers have a rich history of shooting guards. But it’s not hard to guess who ranks No. 1.
One franchise has the distinction of suiting up arguably the most talented scorer to ever play shooting guard in NBA history, and arguably the best defender to ever play shooting guard in NBA history. And with all due respect to Michael Jordan, I’m not talking about the Chicago Bulls. Kobe Bryant and Michael Cooper played a combined 32 seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers. Between them, they won 10 championships and made 15 NBA Finals appearances.
Kobe retired at No. 3 on the league’s all-time scoring list, and today he sits ahead of Jordan and everyone else except for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and LeBron James. That’s despite Kobe not being a starter at the beginning of his career, and missing a lot of time with injuries at the tail end of his career.
Cooper’s resume includes eight All-Defensive Team selections and one Defensive Player of the Year award, even though he came off the bench for the majority of his career.
Why @kobebryant’s predraft workout from his rookie season vs. Michael Cooper has become the stuff of NBA legend http://t.co/cLNKYiVP0M
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 24, 2014
The offensively unstoppable “Black Mamba” and defensively impenetrable “Coop” are no-brainers to occupy high spots on this ranking of the best shooting guards in Lakers’ franchise history. Their games were wildly different, but their success was equally sweet for the purple and gold.
Here are the top 10 shooting guards the Los Angeles Lakers have ever had.