LeBron James’ colossal legacy has drawn comparisons to many greats, including some very talented Los Angeles Lakers legends.
The Los Angeles Lakers are a franchise with such a rich history. In fact, there isn’t much if ab argument as to why they are not the greatest franchise in the history of the NBA.
The Lakers have a total of 16 championships, trailing only to the Boston Celtics by one. As a result, it is clear that we are talking about a cornerstone franchise, though if you’re reading this you are surely well aware of that.
The debates regarding a team’s Mt. Rushmore has been going on and on for decades. It could further expand to the entire league, meaning the four greatest players in the history of the NBA.
To be a historic organization, you must have the correct players to put you to that spot. Indeed, throughout the years, there have been some legendary players who have worn the purple and gold.
Despite having such a wide variety of players to choose from, the Los Angeles Lakers Mt. Rushmore seems to be a no-brainer. Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Jerry West.
Some may argue that the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Elgin Baylor, James Worthy or even Wilt Chamberlain deserve a spot on the great mountain. Even though those are some of the all-time greats, no quartet has ever influenced the franchise like the first one.
When it comes to LeBron James, we are dealing with an endless list of accomplishments, winning both individual and team awards multiple times. He has been dominating the league since his first week in the NBA and has lived up to every expectation that was set for him.
A few months prior to the 2003 NBA Draft, when ESPN’s Dick Vitale was commentating a game against the Oak Hill Warriors, he said the following thing about LeBron.
"“We’re not saying he’s Magic Johnson, we’re not saying he’s Michael Jordan.”"
17 years later, LeBron is leading the league in assists while playing point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, in addition to making a serious case for being better than Jordan ever was.
LeBron is certainly on a few of these mountains himself. He is, without a doubt, on the Miami Heat one. He is the entire Cleveland Cavaliers architectural design. Last but not least, it would be a crime to exclude him from the NBA’s list of the top 4 to ever play the game.
Consequently, one might wonder the following: “How can LeBron be on the NBA’s Mt. Rushmore, yet his place on LA’s is up for debate?”.
It’s actually a quite different argument. When discussing the NBA’s best, we are simply putting the four best to ever play the game up there. It doesn’t matter if whether they stayed loyal to one franchise for their entire career, or they bounced around the league on short-term contracts.
On the contrary, an organization’s Mt. Rushmore should be about the four players that influenced this team the most. Take James Harden for example. He already is one of the best shooting guards of all-time. Is he one of the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s top four greats? Simply put, no.
When it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers, those four legends each hold their respective spot on the mountain very tightly.
- Kobe Bryant: 20 years with the team, multiple championships
- Magic Johnson: Possibly the greatest Laker ever, undoubtedly the greatest PG ever
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 5 championships with the team, NBA’s all-time leading scorer
- Jerry West: 7 championships as a player or an executive, NBA’s logo
Even though it is almost impossible to decide who would be the one to get bumped off the list, LeBron would have to pull of some serious moves of greatness if he were to even come near that selection of players.
Per Shaq’s words, LeBron would have to three-peat in order to make it to the Lakers’ Mt. Rushmore, in which he believes that it wouldn’t be fair to say that even he belongs there. The competition is so tight, that we are forced to possibly leave multiple top-10 players of all-time, off that list.
The Lakers are officially ten years without the joy of an NBA Championship. If that wasn’t enough, for the first time in their history, their rivals, the LA Clippers, have been dominating the league this past decade, despite not winning one fo themselves.
Bringing a championship to Los Angeles, on the year of Kobe’s tragic death would mean the world to any Lakers fan. Should LeBron succeed on that mission, his debate for the Mt. Rushmore might be even more viable.