Is Kobe the Greatest Laker of All-Time? Ranking the Mount Rushmore Legends
Apologies to, at worst, the second-greatest player to ever take the court in the NBA. But you won't find LeBron James' face carved into the Los Angeles Lakers' Mount Rushmore. Nor will you find "The Big Aristotle." Or the man called The Logo, himself.
James and Shaquille O'Neal may be all-time superstars, but their time in a Lakers uniform is and was too short to crack the mountain. And with Jerry West, he's going against Elgin Baylor in a toss-up. Instead, for the purposes of this list, we focused on a combination of statistics, legacy, and duration. The legacy part also keeps George Mikan from the final four.
The truth is that the Lakers have had so many truly elite contributors in franchise history that coming to a consensus about the four who deserve a spot on Mount Rushmore is a fool's errand.
That didn't stop us from trying.
The Honorable Mentions
- George Mikan (1948-1956, all with the Minneapolis Lakers)
- Jerry West (1960-1974, head coach from 1976-1979, executive from 1979-2000)
- James Worthy (1982-1994)
- Phil Jackson (head coach from 1999-2011)
- Shaquille O'Neal (1996-2004)
- LeBron James (2018-present)
4. Elgin Baylor (1958-1972)
Fate is a cruel mistress. Baylor played 14 NBA seasons, all with the Lakers, starting in Minnesota in 1958-59 and ending nine games into the 1971-72 season in Los Angeles. Baylor helped the franchise to eight NBA Finals in his first 13 seasons, but never won a championship.
Instead, the Lakers finally took the crown in 1972, just months after he retired. Baylor remains the team's all-time leading rebounder and ranks fourth in team history in points.
3. Magic Johnson (1979-1991, 1995-96)
Johnson, too, played his entire career with the Lakers, who selected him No. 1 overall in the 1979 NBA draft. He proceeded to finish in the top three in Most Valuable Player voting nine times before his career came to an abrupt end after the 1990-91 season because of HIV.
Johnson ultimately won the MVP award three times and led the Lakers to five titles over the course of his 13 seasons, the last of which came in a return at age 36 in 1995-96. That year, he played in just 32 games but still managed to finish 12th in MVP voting.
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1975-1989)
Abdul-Jabbar had already established himself as an NBA star before he arrived in Los Angeles in 1975-76 at age 28. He won five NBA titles with the Lakers until his retirement after the 1988-89 season, serving as the frontcourt star to Johnson's backcourt magic for a bulk of those years.
Abdul-Jabbar ranks third in team history in scoring (and second in NBA history), second in rebounds, and first in blocked shots. His six rings are second-most ever for a player who won at least one with two different teams.
1. Kobe Bryant (1996-2016)
Bryant's legacy in the NBA is complicated. No one doubts his on-court prowess, though. Over 20 seasons in Los Angeles, all with the Lakers, Bryant won five NBA championships, including back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 after winning three with his frenemy O'Neal from 2000 to 2002.
The titles also came after Bryant's reputation plummeted following a sexual assault allegation in 2003.
He re-made his image over the course of the next decade-plus and retired in a beloved fashion (fair or not) as the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Bryant died in a helicopter crash in 2020, four years after his NBA career came to an end.
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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 12:02 PM.