Top 5 Greatest Centers In Los Angeles Lakers Franchise History. The Los Angeles Lakers are known as the second most winningest team in the history of the NBA with 17 championships, next to the legendary Boston Celtics team who have 17. They were also known as the home of the greatest centers that the league ever had. 

Today, we are ranking the top 5 greatest centers in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers.

5. Andrew Bynum

Andrew Bynum was selected 10th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s the youngest player ever to play in the NBA who played his debut game only six days after his 18th birthday. He spent the first 7 seasons of his career with the team before he got traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a four-team trade in exchange for Dwight Howard.

His best season came in his last year with the Lakers in the 2011-12 season where he was named as an NBA All-Star for the first time averaging 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. He also won 2 championships with the team in 2009 and 2010 and won an All-NBA team award in the 2011-12 season.

4 Vlade Divac

Like Andrew Bynum, Vlade Divac was also drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and played 7 seasons with them. He was picked 26th overall in the 1989 NBA Draft along with the likes of Glen Rice, Tim Hardaway, and Shawn Kemp. He was the first European player to have an impact in the NBA. He’s also well-known because of his flops.

Divac had the opportunity to play and learn with two of the greatest players of all time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. Because of them, he improved his already stacked repertoire and became one of the greatest centers in Laker’s history.

Vlade’s best time of his Lakers career is in the 1994-95 season where he drops 16.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.2 blocks per game. He was also named to an NBA All-Rookie team in his debut season and became an NBA All-Star in the 2000-01 season with the Sacramento Kings.

After his great 6-year career with the Kings, he came back to the Lakers in the 2004 offseason but unfortunately, he was plagued by injuries and just played only 15 games that season averaging 2.3 points in just 8.7 minutes per game. 

His number 21 jersey was retired by the Kings in 2009. In 2019, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

3. Shaquille O’Neal

We all know that Shaquille O’Neal is the most dominant player ever yet we ranked him as number 3. His massive body tells it all as he can tank the defender to hoop the ball into the basket but because of it, he gets injured again and again. He didn’t try at least once to play all 82 games in a season due to the injuries. He has an average of just 64 games played per season in his whole career, which means he’s missing 18 games per year. 

He’s a beast under the basket who can score at will but he’s limited to it as he can’t shoot efficiently outside the paint. His free throw shooting is also terrible as he drilled only 52.7 percent of it in his whole career.

Despite injuries, he played massive 8 seasons with the Lakers averaging 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game.

Shaq ended his career being a 4x NBA champion, an MVP, 3X Finals MVP, 15x All-Star, 3x AS MVP, 14x All-NBA, 3X All-Defensive, All-Rookie, 2x scoring champ, and a Rookie of the Year.

2. Wilt Chamberlain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRgFX3-rc2w

In 1968, the Los Angeles Lakers received Wilt Chamberlain from the 76ers in exchange for center Darrall Imhoff, forward Jerry Chambers, and guard Archie Clark. This is the first time in the history of the NBA that the current MVP got traded in the very next season.

He spent 5 seasons with the team averaging 17.7 points and 19.2 rebounds per game. He has a career average of  30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game in his 15 seasons playing in the NBA.

Not only was Chamberlain one of the best Lakers in history, but he’s undoubtedly one of the best centers to ever play the game of basketball. He is a 2x NBA champion, 4x  MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 13x All-Star, 1x AS MVP, 10x All-NBA, 2XAll-Defensive, 4x assists champion, 7x scoring champ, and a Rookie of the Year.

It’s worth knowing that he has the skill of a modern center that is playing in an era where he can dominate everyone and that’s the reason why he’s number 2 on this list.

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=133YwacaFPQ

In 1975, the Lakers acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar along with Walt Wesley from the Bucks in exchange for center Elmore Smith, guard Brian Winters, and rookie “blue chippers” Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman. From that time, he played 14 straight seasons with the team.

Kareem won five championships in Los Angeles, he won his first championship in 1971 as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, showing that he’s already had a big impact on the league since the beginning of his NBA career. 

Until now, KAJ still has the highest total score in the history of the NBA with 38,387 points. He is a 19-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year, 2x NBA Finals MVP, and a 6x NBA MVP.

He dominated the game as his signature move “skyhook” really brought him to the top as it is one of the most unstoppable moves ever. He played absurdly 20 years of consistent basketball averaging 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.6 blocks per game. 

In 1978, he played his fewest games in a single season at 62, that’s the only time he played fewer than 74 games in a season in his career — that 74 games he played were when he’s already 41 years old.

His durability helps him meet even more heights of his massive NBA career, that’s why he’s the greatest center in Lakers’ franchise history.