The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most historic franchises in the history of the NBA. Since 1948 when they still called Minneapolis home to today where they play their basketball in the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, the Lakers have been one of the most beloved and hated teams in the game. NBA legends young and old have made it a point in their careers to don the purple and gold at least once and say that they were a part of Lakers Nation. Some of the game’s greatest scorers and overall players have been Lakers, bringing us to the topic of discussion at hand.
Just a week ago, LeBron James became the second player in NBA history to break the NBA’s all-time scoring record while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. James recorded the basket on a stepback semi-fadeaway jumper from the top of the key. James has been a member of the Lakers since the 2018-19 season and has recorded 7,373 points as a Laker. He may not be among the greatest Lakers scorers, but he stands alone atop the NBA’s list.
The list below will be of the 10 NBA players who scored the most career points strictly as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. While they are not in contention for the NBA’s scoring record, this list will include the greatest players to wear the Laker uniform and the ones who delivered championships and lasting memories to the City Of Angels. These 10 players either spent their entire careers with the Lakers or hit their peak as scorers at precisely the right time. These 10 players can be found up and down the Lakers GOAT pyramid and with zero question as to their standing in franchise history.
These are the 10 all-time leading scorers in Los Angeles Lakers History.
10. Jamaal Wilkes – 10,601 Points
Credit: Fadeaway World
Career Stats: 17.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.3 BPG
Jamaal Wilkes is a 12-year NBA veteran who played with the Lakers from 1978 thru 1985. After spending his first three seasons in Golden State with the Warriors, and winning Rookie of the Year in 1975, Wilkes was sent to L.A. in exchange for cash and a first-round draft pick. In 1979, his second season with the Lakers, Wilkes earned the starting small forward job and averaged 18.6 PPG, a career-high at this point. From 1980 thru 1983, Wilkes would play in 80 games or more each season while averaging 20.0 PPG or better.
After his three 20.0 PPG seasons, Wilkes would average 18.5 PPG over the next two years with the Lakers and 8.3 PPG in his final season with the team in 1985. Wilkes recorded six straight seasons with at least 1,000 points in Los Angeles and five straight seasons with at least 1,500 points. Wilkes would end up a three-time NBA champion in 1980, 1982, and 1985 in L.A. as well as a two-time All-Star. He was a career 16.1 PPG scorer for the Lakers in the playoffs and averaged 20.0 PPG or better on each championship run that they had.
9. Byron Scott – 12,780 Points
Credit: Fadeaway World
Career Stats: 14.1 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.3 BPG
Byron Scott is a Los Angeles Lakers legend as a member of the mid-80s Showtime Lakers. At the shooting guard position, he was one of the more impactful defenders at his peak and became a very consistent scorer over time. Scott played 10 years with the Lakers from 1984 thru 1993 and never averaged less than 10.0 PPG. He would earn the full-time starting position for L.A. in the 1986-87 season when he would really break out on the offensive side of the ball. He would average a career-high 17.0 PPG in 1987 and followed that up with a new career-high in 1988 with 21.7 PPG in 81 games played.
In his 11 seasons as a Laker, Scott averaged 14.1 PPG on 49.0% shooting. He also shot 37.3% from three with the team but on just 1.9 attempts per game. In his 11 seasons with the team, Scott had over 1,000 total points in a season eight times and over 1,500 points just once. He was never recognized as an All-Star but he did help deliver three NBA championships to the Lakers in 1985, 1987, and 1988.
8. Gail Goodrich – 13,044 Points
Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Career Stats: 18.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG
Gail Goodrich is one of the more underappreciated stars in Lakers’ history. After serving as the backup guard to Archie Clark for the first three seasons of his career with the Lakers, Goodrich was lost to the Suns in the 1968 Expansion Draft. After breaking out as a star in Phoenix, the Lakers re-acquired Goodrich in a trade for Mel Counts. When Goodrich got back to Los Angeles, he and Jerry West became one of the greatest backcourts ever.
In his first season back with the team, Goodrich averaged 17. 5 PPG in 1971. That average would balloon up to 25.9 PPG as the Lakers would go on to win the NBA championship that season. Goodrich would also lead the NBA Finals in scoring in 1972. After his first All-Star season with the Lakers, Goodrich would make three more in a row averaging 24.5 PPG on 46.3% shooting during this stretch. He would spend one more season in Los Angeles averaging 19.5 PPG before ending his career with the New Orleans Jazz. In his nine seasons with the Lakers, Goodrich averaged 19.0 PPG on 46.0% shooting.
7. Shaquille O’Neal – 13,895 Points
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Career Stats: 23.7 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.6 SPG, 2.3 BPG
There is so much to say about Shaquille O’Neal’s playing days with the Los Angeles Lakers. It was perhaps the most dominant peak we have ever seen from a big man and definitely has been over the last 40 years. O’Neal was at the height of his MVP days winning the 2000 MVP award and leading the Lakers to three straight NBA titles as well as winning three straight Finals MVP awards. The way Shaq ran through and bullied the biggest and the strongest opponents of his era was borderline comical and an absolute pleasure to watch and made him the best center of the 2000s decade.
Shaq joined the Lakers for the 1996-97 season and immediately made an impact averaging 26.2 PPG. In the three seasons leading up to the Lakers’ three-peat, O’Neal averaged 27.0 PPG finishing 57.3% of his shots. In 2000, he took home his second career scoring title averaging 29.7 PPG on 57.5% shooting which led the NBA as well. After winning championships in 2001 and 2002, O’Neal would spend two more seasons with the Lakers where he averaged 24.5 PPG on 57.9% shooting from the field. In the entirety of his eight seasons with the Lakers, O’Neal averaged 27.0 PPG on 57.6% shooting as the most unstoppable force in the NBA for nearly a decade.
6. James Worthy – 16,320 Points
Credit: Fadeaway World
Career Stats: 17.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.7 BPG
James Worthy is a recognizable face in Lakers history with his signature goggles and three NBA championships. However, when the Showtime Lakers are brought up, he gets little to no love when compared to Kareem and Magic which is an injustice. Worthy earned the nickname “Big Game James” for his ability to shine in big moments which was not limited to the NBA Finals. He was one of Magic’s most reliable weapons in the open court and could create buckets for himself whether it be from the perimeter or from the inside.
Worthy played his entire 12-year NBA career with the Lakers from 1983 thru 1994. After two seasons of mostly coming off the bench, Worthy cracked the starting lineup full-time in his third season and it was off to the races from there. After averaging 17.6 PPG in 1985, Worthy bumped that up to 20.0 PPG the following season, earning him his first All-Star selection. For the next six years, Worthy was an All-Star who averaged 20.3 PPG on 52.7% shooting during that stretch. He was named the 1988 Finals MVP, won three NBA championships, and was named to two All-NBA Teams over the course of his time in Los Angeles and is still regarded as one of the players toward the top of the Lakers hierarchy.
5. Magic Johnson – 17,707 Points
Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Career Stats: 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG
Magic Johnson is widely recognized as the greatest point guard that ever lived, and rightfully so. The arrival of Magic in 1979 ushered in a new era of basketball in Los Angeles which resulted in the Lakers becoming the team of the 80s. Johnson would lead the Lakers to five NBA championships in his career with three Finals MVP awards and three MVP awards on top of that. As a passer and playmaker, nobody did it better than Magic, especially on the open floor and in transition. Magic and Kareem became one of the greatest duos in NBA history together in the 80s with both players flying up this and most all-time lists.
Magic Johnson took just 13 seasons to reach the 17,700-point mark bringing into question what could have been if he never got sick and had to walk away for four seasons. Amongst his numerous assists and steals titles, Johnson was also a consistent and aggressive scorer. By his second season, Magic was a 21.0 PPG scorer for the Lakers, a mark he would reach three more times in his career. He only failed to reach 1,000 points in a season three times in his short career and led the NBA in triple-doubles 11 times. Johnson is the epitome of the greatest Lakers in NBA history and one of their greatest scorers.
4. Elgin Baylor – 23,149 Points
Credit: Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Career Stats: 27.4 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 4.3 APG
Only four players in Lakers history have ever reached the 20,000-point mark while wearing the uniform. The first of these players is Elgin Baylor who helped the Lakers transition from Minneapolis to Los Angeles early on in his career. Baylor was one of the best players in the NBA from the first time he stepped on the court in 1958. His above-the-rim and fast-paced play paved the way for the players we see today along with his silky-smooth jumper from the mid-range.
As a rookie, Baylor poured in 24.9 PPG which is the ninth-most PPG by a rookie in NBA history. Just two seasons later, Baylor would have the first 30.0 PPG season of his career with 34.0 PPG in 1961. He averaged a career-high 38.3 PPG in 1962 and 34.0 PPG again in 1963. As a matter of fact, Baylor would only ever average below 20.0 PPG with the Lakers three times in 14 seasons on the court. Baylor would have eight seasons with 25.0 PPG or better in his career and is one of the greatest small forwards to ever play the game.
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 24,176 Points
Credit: MPS-USA TODAY Sports
Career Stats: 24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.6 APG, 0.9 SPG, 2.6 BPG
Up until recently, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held the NBA’s all-time scoring record with over 38,300 points. He accumulated 24,176 of those points in 14 seasons as a Laker from 1976 thru 1989. Kareem was a dominant inside scorer who used his size and length to develop the most unstoppable move in NBA history, the skyhook. His work in the paint as a scorer made him a Top Three player in NBA history and helped deliver five NBA titles to the Lakers with six MVP awards and two Finals MVPs for the big man.
In a bit of a different standing than his 30.0 PPG days with the Bucks, Kareem was still as offensively gifted as ever with 25.9 PPG over his first four seasons as a Laker. When Magic Johnson arrived in 1979, Kareem would average 23.4 PPG over the next seven seasons while winning four championships. Kareem would average 22.1 PPG over his 14 seasons with the Lakers cementing his place as the second-leading scorer in Lakers history before the man at number one came along.
2. Jerry West – 25,192 Points
Credit: Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
Career Stats: 27.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 6.7 APG, 2.6 SPG, 0.7 BPG
Over the course of 14 seasons from 1961 thru 1974, Jerry West became the greatest player in Lakers history. West was one of the first real great jump shooters in the NBA and we would see him in an entirely new light if the three-point line existed in his playing days. West was a gunslinger and an accurate one at that shooting 47.4% from the field for his career. Before his career was over, West would take the Lakers to nine NBA Finals, winning one NBA championship, and an NBA Finals MVP award in 1969.
West began his career with a modest 17.6 PPG in his 1961 rookie season. In his second season, West’s average would skyrocket up to 30.8 PPG in just six more minutes of action on the court. West would average at least 30.0 PPG in a season three more times in his career including his 1970 scoring title season in which he averaged 31.2 PPG. In his nine-year prime from 1962 thru 1970, West averaged 29.3 PPG on 47.7% shooting from the field. West’s career gets overlooked by NBA fans due to his poor finals record which saw him reach the Finals nine times and win only one championship. The Logo would like me to remind you just how talented he was and why he is considered to be on the Mt. Rushmore of Lakers history.
1. Kobe Bryant – 33,643 Points
Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Career Stats: 25.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.5 BPG
Did you expect anyone else? For 20 years, Kobe Bryant graced the Staples Center as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and became a global icon in the process. As a fierce competitor and one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, Kobe provided some of the greatest moments ever on the basketball court. He became the only Laker to play 20 seasons in the uniform as well as the only one to surpass 30,000 points wearing the same threads. With his game tailored to score in waves, Bryant became an NBA legend of near folk hero status.
Two scoring titles, Five NBA titles, two Finals MVP awards, and a slew of other accomplishments are the summary of Bryant’s career on the court. His legendary Mamba Mentality inspired generations of basketball fans who flocked to one of the greatest competitors ever. Bryant was labeled as an inefficient shot-chucker who was selfish and drove away teammates. That narrative could not have been more false as Bryant’s TS% sits right at league average for his time. From his 81-point game to his 60 points in his final appearance on the floor, Kobe Bryant is solidified as one of the greats for the rest of time.
Source: fadeawayworld
