The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the two most successful franchises in NBA history. Over the past few decades, there have been several all-time legends who have had vital contributions to the franchise’s 17 Championship wins. Goes without saying, it is an extremely difficult task to pick merely five players who have been the most important. Yet, Jeanie Buss disclosed her picks for the top 5 positions. Snubbing Shaquille O’Neal from her list, Buss broke the big man’s heart. Subsequently, an FS1 analyst made a list of his own, keeping LeBron James off of it.
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Jeanie Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, gathered the courage and named the five people who, according to her, were the most important in franchise history. Ranking them in order, Buss picked Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, and Phil Jackson. Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t very delighted when he saw the list. Reacting to Buss’ list, Shaq posted a photo of the rankings and captioned the Instagram post “whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy”.
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Nevertheless, Chris Broussard did recognize O’Neal for his contributions to the Purple & Gold by adding him to a top-5 Lakers list of his own.
Chris Broussard snubs LeBron James and adds Shaquille O’Neal on his top-5 Lakers list
On the recent episode of First Things First, the panel reacted to Jeanie Buss’ controversial top 5 Lakers list. Like a majority of fans, Chris Broussard also didn’t agree with the list of Lakers personalities Buss named. Instead, the Fox Sports analyst disclosed his own rankings for the five most important figures in Lakers franchise history.
Broussard had three names in common with Buss’ list – Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson. However, the rankings were slightly different. Ranking them #3, #2, and #1, respectively, the 54-year-old also acknowledged Jerry West and Shaquille O’Neal’s efforts. Take a look at Broussard’s explanation for each player’s inclusion in the First Thing First’s tweet.
“We know the Lakers as they are because of Magic Johnson. He was the heart and soul of the greatest era in Lakers history. Showtime. He made them the glamour franchise of the league.
Kobe is arguably the most iconic Laker. For the generations of millennials, the Lakers are Kobe Bryant. And he also won five rings with them.
Kareem, even at 41 years old, was still their go-to guy. As great as Magic was, I don’t know that he wins even close to five rings without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Jerry West… He was getting them to the Finals every year when big men dominated the league… He drafted Kobe Bryant, or traded for him when Kobe was the 13th pick, when no one else thought he’d be as good as Jerry West thought and then he got Shaq as a free agent.
Shaq… because he was the hub, the main force of thee only three-peat in Lakers history. Of all their greatness, one time they three-peat, he was the hub of that.”
Here’s @Chris_Broussard ’s breakdown of the Top 5 Most Important Lakers. And yes, he included Shaq. 👀 pic.twitter.com/YW4xxAyPyR
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) July 6, 2023
Broussard not adding LeBron James to the list doesn’t come off as a surprise. Considering that the King has spent merely five years with the franchise, a lot of supporters of the LA side keep him off such lists.
Snoop Dogg reveals his Top-5 Lakers list
Like Chris Broussard, Snoop Dogg also kept LeBron James off his ‘Top-5 Lakers of all time’ list. In an appearance on The Pivot Podcast, the rapper had a pretty common list – Abdul-Jabbar, Magic, Kobe, Shaq, and Wilt Chamberlian. His reasoning for keeping James off the list? He “ain’t done enough.”
Bron has a few more years before he retires. If he does win a few more chips for the Lakers, he might end up in the top 5 list. Until then, while he is one of the greatest players in NBA history, he isn’t one of the top 5 figures in the Lakers’ history.
