Magic Johnson Leaves Out LeBron James From His Top-5 Lakers of All-Time

When one thinks of the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson is one of the faces that always pops up in everyone’s minds. Johnson is not only a 5-time NBA Champion and a Hall of Famer, who was the face of the Showtime Lakers, but also a lifelong ambassador for the Purple and Gold.

Johnson’s love for LA runs deeper than just the Lakers. He’s invested in LA’s WNBA team, the Sparks, as well as their baseball team, the Dodgers. Recently, while attending a Dodgers’ All-Access event, Johnson was asked an impossible question: to name his Top-5 favorite Lakers of all time, excluding himself.

Right off the bat, Magic had two names ready. Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “Kobe is going to be one with Kareem. You know nobody’s like Kobe, and you know his killer mentality, his hitting big shots after big shots, but also love being a Laker, love playing in Los Angeles. He represented the city; we miss him.”

He then turned around and talked about his former teammate, Kareem. “Nobody’s like Kareem, oh my goodness. The skyhook, he was so intelligent, basketball IQ off the charts and I just love playing with Kareem. It’s just, he’s just awesome.”

Magic witnessed Kobe’s entire Laker career in front of his eyes and played alongside Abdul-Jabbar, making those two picks very easy for him. However, selecting the other three was a bit of a dilemma.

Magic explained that the Lakers’ storied history makes it nearly impossible to choose just five players. Magic ultimately mentioned Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West as rounding out his five. He acknowledged that James Worthy and LeBron James also deserved strong consideration.

“You try to do five Lakers and it’s impossible because then you [have] got to put LeBron now. James Worthy would definitely qualify, too. But if you put all the Lakers against any other team, we would beat them,” Johnson said with a smile.

Not picking LeBron James might slight a few newer fans, but long-time Laker fans know how deep their history runs. From the dominance of Chamberlain in the 1970s, to Magic and Kareem’s Showtime dynasty in the 1980s, to Shaq and Kobe’s three-peat in the early 2000s, and now LeBron carrying the torch, the Lakers’ Mount Rushmore of talent is unlike any other franchise in basketball.

On top of all that, they now have a new face of the franchise in Luka Doncic. The 26-year-old Slovenian has quite the shoes to fill, but he’s already working towards justifying the title. Doncic showed a huge transformation over the offseason and is currently balling out at EuroBasket 2025.

If he can bring the same form over to the Lakers, there’s nothing stopping him from joining this list of greats.