Top 5 Laker NBA Draft Lottery Picks

Alex Torres
6 Min Read

2. Kobe Bryant

The Black Mamba was the last lottery pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, considered one of the best in NBA history. Even though technically the Lakers did not directly draft Kobe Bryant, they made the trade for Charlotte’s 13th pick the day before the draft. The Lakers gave up their popular starting center Vlade Divac for that skinny kid from Lower Marion High School. Ironically the one behind this master plan was Jerry West. Once he saw Kobe play, he knew he was something special, thank you Mr. West. We have all been fortunate enough and spoiled to have seen Kobe Bryant develop into one of the greatest players of all time, and also bringing this organization five NBA titles in the process.

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1. Magic Johnson

With the first pick of the 1979 NBA Draft the Los Angeles Lakers select: Magic Johnson, out of Michigan State University. The greatest point guard to to have ever lived was an absolute beast. Another player to completely transcend the game of basketball, with his famous no look pass and a smile that could light up a room. Magic brought 5 NBA Championships to Los Angeles, and was part of the first Laker team to defeat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. Magic was the league’s most valuable player 3 times and was also selected to 12 All-Star teams along with 9 NBA First team selections. A pioneer on and off the court and more importantly his contributions to the Lakers organization and the city of Los Angeles.

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Four NBA Hall of Fame inductees, and one future hall of fame inductee when he does retire. All of them did not wear another jersey but the purple in gold in their entire career, and all of them as important and valuable in their own special way.

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A Southern California native and Laker fanatic since birth, I am here just sharing my passion for the purple and gold with the rest of Lakers Nation!