Editor’s note: players only qualify if they logged at least one playoff appearance in their respective championship years. Also, the list is based on their entire career, not just their span of time with Los Angeles. 

30) Clay Johnson (1982)

A middling NBA career was treated not as a disappointment for Johnson but an opportunity to give back to his community. He now runs a foundation in his hometown of Kansas City dedicated to mentoring at-risk youth, with events that often feature appearances from former Laker teammates, most notably Magic Johnson (no relation). Clay Johnson was a Laker for two seasons, ’81-’82 and ’82-’83, after a successful college career at Missouri and several seasons toiling in the WBL and CBA (including a stint with the Hawaii Volcanoes). A smooth shooting off-guard, he appeared in just seven regular season games for the Lakers in ’81-’82 after they signed him in August, cut him in October, and re-signed him in April to replace floundering rookie Kevin McKenna at the back end of the backcourt depth chart. Johnson also made seven playoff appearances that year and scored a basket in garbage time of a game four NBA Finals win over Philadelphia. After just a smattering of appearances during the ’82-’83 season that ended with a Finals loss to the Sixers, Johnson spent part of ’83-’84 with the Sonics before calling it a career. He would eventually write a book about his time as a bench warmer with the Lakers, titled In the Middle of the Bus, and started his successful foundation in Kansas City in 2004.

29) Milt Wagner (1988)

Never a star player in college, Wagner did get to participate in three Final Fours with Louisville, in 1982, 1983, and 1986, winning the national championship in the latter. He was drafted by the Mavericks in the second round in 1986, waived before the season started, then eventually signed with the Lakers for the ’87-’88 season, reuniting with his high school (in Camden, New Jersey) and collegiate teammate Billy Thompson at the end of the bench. Wagner did start four games at shooting guard during a brief stretch when Michael Cooper and Magic Johnson were both nursing injuries and finished the year averaging 3.8 points in 40 games. His playoff appearances all came in garbage time, including two blowout losses in the NBA Finals series that ended with the Lakers defeating the Pistons in seven games. He joined Thompson and Johnson on a short list of players who have won basketball championships at the high school, college, and NBA levels. Waived by the Lakers before the ’88-’89 season, Wagner got one more chance in the NBA with the Heat in ’90-’91 before finishing up his pro career with stints in Europe. After retiring in 1999, he took a job as an administrative assistant at Memphis under John Calipari, who then controversially landed Wagner’s prep star son, Dajuan, on a scholarship.

28) Chuck Nevitt (1985)

Officially the tallest player in NBA history for several years, the 7’5″ Nevitt had that record eventually broken but still stands as the tallest player with an NBA championship ring. He was also the first player bestowed with the nickname “Human Victory Cigar,” earned during that ’84-’85 title run with the Lakers. When Swen Nater retired in 1984, Nevitt signed with the Lakers hoping to replace him as a backup center but was eventually cut in favor or Earl Jones. When Jones proved unreliable during the regular season, the Lakers brought back Nevitt in March of 1985. Literally all of his playing time came late in blowout wins, including game three of the NBA Finals against Boston, hence the “Human Victory Cigar” moniker. Despite his lack of contributions on the court, Nevitt was still a fan favorite for his superlative size and self-deprecating humor. He later made a (brief) appearance for the Pistons in the 1998 Finals against his former Lakers teammates, then earned another title ring with the Bulls in 1992, though he wasn’t on the team’s playoff roster.

27) Brad Holland (1980)

The last player ever recruited by John Wooden at UCLA, the Montana born but L.A. raised Holland stayed close to home in his pro career. He was drafted #14 overall by the Lakers in 1979, 13 spots after they took another guard named Magic Johnson. While his fellow rookie was an immediate Lakers starter and soon after one of the league’s biggest superstars, Holland’s career took a decidedly different path. He logged just 6.2 minutes per game in his first two NBA seasons but did at least appear in three NBA Finals games against the 76ers in 1980. That most notably included game six, when Johnson shifted to center to replace an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This freed up the back court rotation, allowing Holland to compile eight points and two steals in that decisive Lakers victory. When the Lakers signed Mitch Kupchak in 1981, Holland was sent to the Bullets as part of the return compensation package. His NBA career lasted only one more season and he finished with a career average of just 3.2 points per game.

26) Mike Smrek (1987, 1988)

Part of a talented generation of Canadians that hit the NCAA and NBA in the early-to-mid ’80s (the list also includes Leo Rautins, Stewart Granger, and Bill Wennington), Smrek played his college ball at Canisius in Buffalo and was drafted by the Blazers in the second round in 1985. Not particularly athletic or skilled relative to most NBA players, Smrek did at least possess size, allowing the seven-footer to last seven seasons in the league. Two of those came with the Lakers, who signed him as a free agent in 1986, when he supposedly also had an offer on the table from the rival Celtics. At least in terms of championships, it worked out for Smrek, who won titles with the Lakers in 1987 (over the Celtics) and 1988 as a third string center behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mychal Thompson. When the Lakers signed Mark McNamara in 1988, they traded Smrek to the Spurs. He spent four more seasons in the NBA and several in Europe before retiring to return to his native Ontario to work as a high school teacher.

25) Butch Lee (1980)

Born in Puerto Rico, Lee was the first Latin American player in NBA history, and probably would have been the first Latino star if not for a major knee injury early in his pro career. His legend started at Marquette, where he was a two-time All-American, and crested at the 1976 Olympics. Left off the U.S. roster by his collegiate coach Al McGuire, Lee suited up for Puerto Rico and almost carried his native island to a stunning upset of the Americans in the preliminary round. After a quiet rookie season with the Hawks (who drafted him 10th overall) and Cavaliers (who traded for him at the deadline), torn cartilage was discovered in his knee during training camp, necessitating surgery. Lee was able to return to the roster in February but was quite obviously not the same player anymore, so the Cavs included him in the infamous trade that also sent the #1 overall pick in 1982 (used on James Worthy) to the Lakers. He played limited minutes in 12 ’82-’83 regular season games and three playoff contests (none in the NBA Finals) as the Lakers won the title over Philadelphia. Waived by Los Angeles that summer, Lee returned to Puerto Rico where he became a star in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional league, first as a player and later as a coach. 

24) Adrian Branch (1987)

Concerned over the lack of development of first round pick Billy Thompson, the Lakers signed Branch as a backup small forward on the eve of the ’86-’87 season. A former NCAA star, albeit one that was overshadowed at Maryland by his teammate, Len Bias, Branch had failed to make the Bulls or Cavaliers rosters in his rookie season and made his NBA debut one year later with Los Angeles. Thompson wound up receiving most of the minutes backing up James Worthy but Branch did average 4.3 points per game in his limited opportunities (his 22.7 points per 36 minutes was second on the team behind Magic Johnson). He appeared in 11 playoff games that spring, including garbage time of four NBA Finals battles against the Celtics, as the Lakers won their fourth title of the decade. Sold that summer to the Nets, Branch bounced around New Jersey, Portland, and Minnesota for parts of three seasons before spending the rest of his pro career overseas.

23) Marty Byrnes (1980)

One of the first star players under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse in the late ’70s, Byrnes was a first round pick of the Suns but it was quickly readily apparent that he wasn’t skilled or athletic enough to keep up in the NBA. Traded to and subsequently waived by the Jazz during his rookie season, Byrnes signed with the Lakers for ’79-’80. His playing time was limited in Los Angeles but did increase late in the year as Spencer Haywood became increasingly erratic and backup small forward Don Ford struggled with injuries. Byrnes wound up as one of just two forwards on the roster for the 1980 NBA Finals (with Jamaal Wilkes) but still got almost no playing time, as the Lakers leaned on undersized centers Jim Chones and Mark Landsberger. After getting selected by the Mavericks in their expansion draft, he had a career year in ’80-’81 with 7.8 points per game, then spent a few seasons in Italy before retiring in 1988.

22) Larry Spriggs (1985)

When the Lakers took a blowout loss to the Nuggets early in the ’84-’85 season to fall to 3-3, coach Pat Riley decided it was time for a shake-up. He inserted the lightly used Spriggs into the starting lineup at power forward over Jamaal Wilkes and Kurt Rambis. Spriggs scored 11 points in his first game as a starter, a victory over the Blazers that kicked off a seven-game winning streak. Spriggs wound up starting in 33 games that season, averaging 6.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Rambis eventually wrested the starting job back, but a Wilkes injury opened up playing time for Spriggs down the stretch and in the playoffs, especially in blowouts. He had 10 points and 10 rebounds in a Conference Finals game three win over Denver, then 16 points in the clinching game five. After winning his ring with the Lakers in 1985, Spriggs saw his playing time decrease sharply in ’85-’86 due to the signing of Maurice Lucas and drafting of A.C. Green. He spent 10 years playing in Europe before returning to Los Angeles to open up a full-time training facility.

21) Ronnie Lester (1985)

Fired from his position as assistant general manager in 2011, Lester concluded a 24-year stretch of employment with the Lakers, which started as a player in 1984. He had accepted his fate as a role player in the NBA by then due to a knee injury that had sapped the dynamism that marked his college career at Iowa. As a guard for the Hawkeyes in the late ’70s, he matched up regularly against Michigan State’s Magic Johnson, who once called Lester the toughest opponent he ever faced in the Big 10. But Lester suffered a knee cartilage tear in his senior season that hampered his entire NBA career, rending him as a draft bust for the Bulls team that selected him 10th overall. Playing time was hard to come by in the ’84-’85 Lakers backcourt behind Johnson, Byron Scott, and Michael Cooper, especially in the postseason, where Lester averaged just six minutes per game as the Lakers won the title. He hung around for one more season before retiring as a player to become first a scout for the Lakers, then eventually an executive, eventually earning eight title rings on one capacity or another with Los Angeles.

20) Billy Thompson (1987)

The list of basketball players with championships at the high school, NCAA, and NBA levels is a short one, and it includes two players who were teammates at every stage and both appear on this list, Thompson and Milt Wagner. They started together at Camden High School in New Jersey, then moved on to Louisville before getting drafted by the Hawks and Mavericks, respectively, in 1986. But they reunited on the Lakers in ’87-’88, at which point Thompson had already earned his title. A solid backup forward, Thompson averaged 5.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in ’86-’87 before suffering a major knee injury in Los Angeles’ first round series against the Nuggets. He earned his championship ring all the same and another one with the Lakers in 1988, despite getting left off the postseason roster. Thompson was able to revive his career with the expansion Heat in ’88-’89 before moving on to stints in Turkey and Israel. He eventually returned to South Florida, starting his own ministry and becoming the Heat’s team chaplain, earning three more title rings in that role.

19) Mark Landsberger (1980, 1982)

His overall contributions to the 1980 and 1982 titles were modest but Landsberger will always be remembered for being part of one of the greatest plays in NBA Finals history. Granted, it wasn’t Landsberger, career journeyman, making the play, but rather getting beat to the baseline and then fading into the background as Julius Erving made his famous sweeping reverse layup in game four of the 1980 Finals. Not a particularly gifted athlete but a preternatural rebounder, especially on the offensive end, Landsberger once hauled in 29 boards in a single game for the Bulls early in his career. He was traded from Chicago to the Lakers at the deadline in ’79-’80, and though he was an end-of-the-bench guy for the Lakers, he did make his presence felt in minimal minutes, beyond just being fodder for Dr. J highlight reels. He got an opportunity to play in three Finals trips and win titles in 1980 and 1982, before getting waived early in the ’83-’84 season. Landsberger moved on to a successful overseas career, spending the rest of the decade in Italy and Greece.

18) Eddie Jordan (1982)

Quick on his feet and with his hands, Jordan adopted the nickname “Fast Eddie” during his time as an All-American at Rutgers, and it extended into his early NBA career with the Nets, when he tied for the league lead in total steals in ’79-’80. The Lakers traded for him early in the ’80-’81 season after Magic Johnson went down with a knee injury, and he filled in as a solid backup to Norm Nixon. But once Magic came back, Jordan was buried on the depth chart. He averaged just 3.8 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in ’81-’82 and appeared in just three playoff games, though two of them were during the NBA Finals victory over Philadelphia. Jordan was then traded to the Clippers in 1983 as a throw-in in the deal that exchanged Norm Nixon for Byron Scott. He actually returned to the Lakers as a free agent late in the ’83-’84 season but didn’t make the postseason roster, then came back to the franchise again in 2012 as an assistant coach, in a disastrous stint trying to force the Princeton offense on Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard.

17) Wes Matthews (1987, 1988)

As opposed to popular belief, it was not Pat Riley who coined the term “three-peat” but Matthews. It was famously in reference to the Lakers attempting to win a third consecutive title in ’88-’89 but things didn’t work out so well for the team or Matthews. The Lakers were swept by the Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals and Matthews was long gone by then, waived by Los Angeles in the summer of 1988 and playing in Italy. It was the end of an eight year NBA career that started with the Bullets, who drafted him #14 overall out of Wisconsin in 1980. Matthews peaked in his rookie season with 12.4 points and 5.2 assists per game, struggled with injuries for years after that, but had a revival with the Spurs in ’85-’86. In that season’s playoffs, he torched the Lakers in a first round series with 25.3 points and 8.0 assists per game, even though the Spurs were swept in three games. Los Angeles was impressed enough to sign him that offseason to replace the retiring Ron Lester as a backup point guard and though Matthews played only light minutes, he did earn two championships. His son, Wesley, Jr., has had a much better NBA career statistically but has failed to win a championship in 13 seasons and counting.

16) Mike McGee (1982, 1985)

A forgotten man on the early ’80s Lakers, McGee played limited minutes at shooting guard but made the most of it, acting as a poor man’s Vinnie Johnson with his explosive bench scoring. He’s still the all-time field goals leader at Michigan, where he regularly squared off against Magic Johnson and Michigan State, and was a first round pick of the Lakers in 1981. With Johnson, Norm Nixon, and Michael Cooper in the back court already, McGee found scant playing time but did earn a championship ring in 1982 while averaging 2.5 minutes per game for the playoffs. When Nixon was traded to the Clippers and Jamaal Wilkes was injured during the ’84-’85 season, McGee seized the opportunity in the 1985 postseason. He was the Lakers’ leading bench scorer with 11.2 points per game, filling in at both shooting guard and small forward as the Lakers won another championship. Despite his strong play, McGee was seen as expendable due to the emergence of Byron Scott and was traded to the Hawks soon after.

15) Jim Brewer (1982)

Even in one of the worst draft classes in NBA history, Brewer stood out as a disappointment as the #2 overall pick in 1973. He had a few notable moments with the Cavaliers team that drafted him, especially in the 1976 “Miracle at Richfield” playoff run but averaged just 7.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in his first five seasons. He was traded three times in an 18 month span starting at the ’78-’79 trade deadline, eventually winding up with the Lakers. Though he was undersized at 6’9″, Brewer could play both power forward and center effectively and came off the bench behind both Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his former Cavaliers teammate Jim Chones. He even got inserted into the starting lineup for a while in ’81-’82 after Mitch Kupchak was injured but soon after was yanked for Kurt Rambis. Brewer played just 7.1 minutes per game in the 1982 postseason but did make a couple brief NBA Finals appearances as the Lakers defeated the 76ers. He moved on to a successful career in Italy before retiring in 1985 and going into coaching, first back home in Illinois as an assistant for Northwestern, and eventually as an assistant for the Clippers, Raptors, and Celtics, where he worked for his nephew, Doc Rivers.

14) Tony Campbell (1988)

Though he was a first round pick of the Pistons in 1984, Campbell’s career seemed basically over by the time he was 25. Unable to find playing time in Detroit, where Adrian Dantley and Dennis Rodman were hoarding minutes at small forward, Campbell signed with the Bullets in 1987 but couldn’t even make their roster. He managed to revive his career in the CBA, starring the Albany Patroons as they won the ’87-’88 title, catching the eye of the Lakers, who signed him in March of 1988. With Billy Thompson out for the season due to injury, Campbell averaged 11.0 points per game down the stretch of the regular season as James Worthy’s backup. His playing time was more limited in the 1988 playoffs, which ended with the Lakers winning their fifth and final title of the Showtime era, then decreased even further in ’88-’89 after Orlando Woolridge was signed. But Campbell got a chance to shine in the 1989 NBA Finals against his former Pistons teammates, filling in major minutes and even starting a game due to injuries to Magic Johnson and Byron Scott. The Lakers were swept in that series but Campbell got a big contract that offseason from the Timberwolves, where he blossomed into the franchise’s first star player under his former CBA coach, Bill Musselman.

13) Mitch Kupchak (1985)

By the time he signed with the Lakers in 1981, Kupchak already had plenty of big game experience. He was one of the stars of the 1976 U.S. Olympic gold medal team (playing under his college coach, Dean Smith), and was the sixth man on the Bullets, playing in back-to-back NBA Finals in 1978 and 1979, winning a title in the former. When the Lakers were knocked out in the first round of the 1981 playoffs, one of Magic Johnson’s top demands of owner Jerry Buss was signing Kupchak to provide a hard-nosed front court presence. He came as advertised, playing solid minutes at power forward and protecting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his physical presence before suffering a fractured knee in a December game against the Clippers. Kupchak was never the same again, missing the remainder of ’81-’82, all of ’82-’83, and able to contribute only minor minutes in his final three seasons. He did make an appearance in 16 out of 19 postseason games in 1985, averaging 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game as the Lakers won their third title of the decade. When the Lakers lost in the 1986 NBA Finals, Kupchak retired as a player and immediately became an assistant general manager. He eventually spent over three decades in the franchise’s front office, earning seven more championship rings. In a fitting denouement, the man who gave Kupchak his start also signaled his end, as Johnson replaced him as general manager in 2017.

12) Jim Chones (1980)

This is as good a time as any to insert a reminder that the players on this list are being judged by the entire breadth of their careers, not just their time with the Lakers. Because while Chones won a championship with L.A. in ’79-’80, it was part of a brief stint towards the end of a successful career spent mostly with the Cavaliers. He was actually drafted by the Lakers out of Marquette in 1972 but opted to sign with the ABA’s New York Americans instead. He averaged 14.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in five seasons as the starting center in Cleveland before their miserly owner Ted Stepien traded him to the Lakers in 1979 for spare parts (just a few months later, Stepien made one of the most infamously terrible trades in NBA history, giving the Lakers his first round pick in 1982 which was used on James Worthy). Chones settled in to a sixth man role, backing up his rival Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at center and Spencer Haywood at power forward. When Haywood was suspended during the 1980 playoffs and Abdul-Jabbar went down with an ankle injury, Chones became an unsung hero of the NBA Finals. Everyone remembers Magic Johnson’s heroic performance in game six against the 76ers, earning Finals MVP honors with his “baby sky hook,” but it was Chones who played most of the minutes at center in that game, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

11) Kurt Rambis (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)

On a Hollywood-based team brimming with finesse and cool, Rambis was a striking counterpoint. Sporting thick-rimmed glasses, an unkempt mane of hair, and playing a style of game better suited to the enforcer roles of the ’60s and ’70s, he was a crowd favorite and a key component of four Lakers title teams. Unwanted by the Knicks that drafted him in the third round in 1980, he spent a season playing in Greece before returning to his home state of California by signing with the Lakers in 1981. Rambis settled into a role as the “dirty work” guy, setting screens, fighting for rebounds, and diving for loose balls, inspiring a fan club that dubbed itself the “Rambis Youth” and showed up to Lakers games in novelty glasses and long-haired wigs. In seven seasons with the Lakers, Rambis averaged just 5.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game but was crucial to six NBA Finals appearances and four titles. After signing with the expansion Hornets in 1988, Rambis had a brief moment in the spotlight, averaging career highs in scoring and rebounding as the franchise’s first starting power forward. He returned to the Lakers as a free agent in 1993, retired as a member of the team, and eventually won two more championships as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson.

10) Mychal Thompson (1987, 1988)

When the Lakers traded for him at the deadline in ’86-’87, Thompson became part of the answer to the trivia question: who was the only team to feature four #1 overall picks on the same roster? An All-American at Minnesota, Thompson was selected with the top pick by the Trail Blazers in 1978, giving him something in common with Los Angeles teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and James Worthy. Thompson was 32 years old with a long history of leg injuries when he joined the Lakers but proved central to two title teams. With Abdul-Jabbar aging, the Lakers needed a backup center that could provide long stretches of strong play and Thompson fit the bill, filling in solid minutes, especially in the 1987 NBA Finals against Boston, when he averaged 14.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in the final four games and played tough defense against Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Though he was born in the Bahamas, raised in Miami, and played college ball in the frozen north, Thompson supposedly had always dreamed of playing for the Lakers and hung around until 1991 before retiring.

9) A.C. Green (1987, 1988)

Appropriately nicknamed “Iron Man” for his NBA record 1,192 consecutive games played, Green’s first 653 appearances of that streak came with the Lakers team that drafted him in 1985. A model of consistency, not just for his games played but also his rebounding, defensive toughness, and short jumper, he probably could have thrived as an All-Star level talent on a lesser roster, but was a perfect fit as an overqualified yeoman off the bench for Los Angeles. After quickly taking over the starting power forward spot from Kurt Rambis, Green became a key element of the last two Showtime championships in 1987 and 1988, especially defensively. But his tenure with the team might be best remembered for his outwardly devout Christianity and voluntary celibacy standing in stark contrast to his bacchanalian teammates. A surprise All-Star for the Lakers in ’89-’90, Green moved on to stints with the Suns and Mavericks before returning to Los Angeles in 1999 and winning a third championship on a completely different roster, headlined by Shaquille O’Neal. He currently runs a marketing company and the A.C. Green Youth Foundation, which promotes abstinence.

8) Michael Cooper (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)

Beanpole thin at 6’5″ and 170 pounds, Cooper certainly didn’t look like a central casting ideal of a fierce defender. But he was one of the most intimidating perimeter stoppers in league history, an honor bestowed on him by no less than Larry Bird. One of the more unassuming members of the ’80s Lakers, Cooper just barely made the roster in 1978 as a third round pick and played in only seven games as a rookie due to a torn knee ligament. He was unlocked as a bench defensive specialist in ’79-’80 and his undeniable ability to blanket opposing scorers at three different positions only grew from there. Cooper’s career scoring peak was just 11.9 points per game in ’81-’82 but he did have a signature postseason offensive moment in 1988, nailing a buzzer beater in game five of a Conference Semifinals series against the Jazz. As a defensive lynchpin (he was named to the All-Defensive team eight consecutive times), Cooper was one of three Lakers to play on all five title teams of the Showtime era, along with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He received the nickname “Coop” from Johnson and the two became close friends. Cooper spent his entire career with the Lakers, retiring in 1990 in the top 10 in franchise history in steals and blocks. He returned to the franchise in the mid ’90s as an assistant coach and apparently his contentious game of one-on-one against a draft prospect named Kobe Bryant convinced general manager Jerry West to trade for the prep star.

7) Byron Scott (1985, 1987, 1988)

Drafted by the cross-town rival Clippers (who were then based in San Diego), Scott was quickly traded to the Lakers for Norm Nixon. He lacked Nixon’s play making but Scott was better suited as a fit in the back court alongside Magic Johnson and proved his worth in three title runs. A throwback shooting guard with a killer outside shot and solid defensive skills, Scott played in six NBA Finals and was Los Angeles’ leading scorer in the 1988 postseason that ended with the final title of the Showtime era. He was named 1st-Team All-Rookie and led the NBA in three-point field percentage in ’84-’85 but Scott was never an All-Star and spent most of his career overshadowed by teammates, especially Johnson. Released by the rebuilding Lakers in 1993, Scott signed with the Pacers and put in two solid years there, backing up Reggie Miller on back-to-back Conference Finals runs. In fact, in his first 12 seasons, Scott’s teams reached at least the Conference Finals 10 times. After one season with the Grizzlies, who selected him in their expansion draft, Scott finished his NBA career with the Lakers in ’96-’97, mentoring a young Kobe Bryant.

6) Norm Nixon (1980, 1982)

Charismatic, loquacious, and supremely athletic (he likely could have also turned pro in football), Nixon was a natural fit on the Showtime Lakers. But he was also ultimately redundant as a play making point guard. When the Lakers drafted Magic Johnson #1 overall, Nixon was understandably resentful, as he had just averaged 17.1 points per game in ’78-’79 and finished top five in the NBA in steals and assists. The point guard duo managed to gel in ’79-’80 as the Lakers won their first championship of the decade but things escalated quickly after a disappointing first round exit in 1981. Johnson and Nixon exchanged barbs in the press and their rivalry ultimately cost coach Paul Westhead his job. A detente was formed for two seasons under Pat Riley, which included an ’81-’82 season where Nixon and Johnson were both named All-Stars, both finished in the top five in the NBA in assists, and won a second championship together, with Nixon as the team’s leading scorer in the playoffs. But when the Lakers found a solid trade in 1983 with the Clippers for rookie Byron Scott, they jumped at the chance to unload Nixon and hand over full play making duties to Johnson. Nixon had some solid seasons with the Clippers, including another All-Star appearance in 1985, before his career was cut short by a fluke knee injury suffered while playing in the Broadway Show Softball League with his wife, performing legend Debbie Allen. Upon retirement, Nixon formed the Debbie Allen Dance Academy alongside Allen and later became a studio analyst for Lakers games on Fox Sports West.

5) Jamaal Wilkes (1980, 1982)

While everyone else on the Lakers roster were playing in their first career NBA Finals in 1980, Wilkes had something in common with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: a previous title with a different franchise. For Wilkes, it came as a rookie with the Warriors in ’74-’75, when he was second on the team in playoff scoring despite coming off the bench. Previously a superstar at Santa Barbara High School and UCLA, Wilkes returned to Southern California in 1977, joining the Lakers as a free agent. Possessing some of the smoothest jump shot mechanics ever seen (Chick Hearn deemed his jumpers a “20 foot lay-up”), Wilkes was second on the Lakers in scoring during the 1980 title run, with 20.3 points per game. When Magic Johnson grabbed the headlines with his game six NBA Finals performance, it overshadowed Wilkes finishing the game with 37 points and playing solid defense on Julius Erving. Wilkes’ 1982 NBA Finals performance was even more impressive, leading the Lakers in scoring with 19.7 points per game and arguably getting robbed of the Finals MVP trophy. It was the cathartic culmination of a trying year for Wilkes, who had struggled in the 1981 playoffs, then suffered the death of his newborn daughter right before the subsequent training camp. He eventually turned the starting small forward spot over to James Worthy and then watched the 1985 championship run from the sidelines after suffering a torn knee ligament. In 2012, Wilkes scored a triple whammy of ultimate honors, when he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, and had his jersey retired by both UCLA and the Lakers.

4) Spencer Haywood (1980)

It’s been well documented how Magic Johnson and Larry Bird spurred the NBA from its drug addled nadir of the ’70s to its new heights of the ’80s and beyond. Haywood’s stint with the Lakers was a perfect avatar of that transition. By the time he joined the Lakers in 1979, traded from the Jazz in exchange for a young Adrian Dantley, Haywood was 30 years old but had already been through several lifetimes worth of professional hardship. A prep superstar in Detroit, Haywood disavowed the traditional NCAA-to-NBA pipeline, instead opting to become the first player to turn pro early, joining the ABA at age 20. He then signed with the SuperSonics a year later and became a four-time All-Star, amidst a flurry of lawsuits, regulation changes, and vicious invective from opposing fans. After a 1975 trade to the Knicks, Haywood began to struggle with cocaine addiction, a predilection that only grew during further stops in New Orleans and then Los Angeles. He was a shadow of his former self with the Lakers in ’79-’80, averaging career lows across the board but still playing sixth man minutes, backing up Jim Chones and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. That is, up until the NBA Finals, when Haywood logged just three minutes in game one and then was suspended indefinitely by the team before game two when he showed up to a morning practice obviously hung over from the night before. He played a subsequent season in Italy, then managed to close out his NBA career with the Bullets. A complicated and tragic figure, Haywood is only a footnote in the Showtime Lakers era, but is as essential to the overall framework of the NBA historical narrative as anybody.

3) James Worthy (1985, 1987, 1988)

How did a Lakers team coming off a championship with four All-Stars in the starting lineup land Worthy with the top pick in the 1982 NBA Draft? You can thank (or curse) Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien, who gave away that pick via trade three years earlier, setting the stage for the Lakers to extend their dynasty clear through into the early ’90s. Nicknamed “Big Game” James during his time at North Carolina, Worthy was indeed a superstar in the clutch numerous times for the Lakers, most notably his triple-double with 36 points in game seven of the 1988 NBA Finals that earned him Finals MVP honors. But it wasn’t always that way for Worthy and the Lakers. He missed the entire 1983 playoffs with a broken leg, made the lazy pass that was infamously stolen by Gerald Henderson in game two of the 1984 NBA Finals, and struggled so badly in the 1986 Conference Finals loss to the Rockets that Jerry Buss almost traded him that offseason to the Mavericks for Mark Aguirre. Worthy was ultimately vindicated, not just for his Finals MVP performance in 1988 but also his clutch defense on Larry Bird in the 1985 and 1987 Finals. Arguably the second best in-game dunker of his era after Dominique Wilkins, Worthy was a perfect complement to Magic Johnson in the Showtime offense, throwing down powerful finishes on countless fast breaks. He was forced to retire at age 33 in 1994 due to knee issues after spending his entire career with the Lakers.

2) Bob McAdoo (1982, 1985)

After a star turn early on with the Buffalo Braves, that included an MVP award and three scoring titles, then brief, injury-prone stints in New York, Boston, Detroit, and New Jersey, McAdoo found a career revival in Los Angeles. He was traded to the West Coast on Christmas Eve during the ’81-’82 season, when the Lakers had a hole open up in the front court rotation due to Mitch Kupchak tearing his knee. McAdoo came with some baggage, as a perceived locker room malcontent with limited postseason success but remade himself as the league’s premier offensive paint threat off the bench. He wound up playing in four straight NBA Finals with the Lakers, winning titles in two of them, 1982 and 1985. With a face-up offensive style that was ahead of its time for a center, it’s no surprise that after leaving the NBA in 1986 (he had a brief stint with Philly in ’85-’86), McAdoo’s career found a second life in Italy, where he remained a star player until the age of 42. He eventually became an assistant coach for the Miami Heat, earning championship rings in 2006, 2012, and 2013. While players like James Worthy, Norm Nixon, Byron Scott, and Michael Cooper are Magic Johnson’s more memorable running mates from the Showtime era, it was McAdoo, a fellow MVP, who had the greatest overall career of everyone except for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

1) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)

His career bifurcates more cleanly than any other great player. The first half was a franchise savior and the heir apparent to Bill Russell as the league’s dominant big man. Abdul-Jabbar won six MVP trophies in his first 11 seasons in the league, but only one title, in 1971 with the Bucks. His Milwaukee team fell just short in the 1974 NBA Finals against Boston, and his later Lakers teams were perennial playoff disappointments. They bowed out meekly in the first round in 1978, then in the second round in 1979, before drafting Magic Johnson. Kareem was actually the league MVP in Johnson’s rookie season, but his sprained ankle during the NBA Finals led to the rise of Magic as the franchise’s leader. Thus we entered the second half of Abdul-Jabbar’s career, and it was still a stellar one. He became the oldest player in NBA history to win Finals MVP, at age 38 in 1985. There was also an All-Star appearance in every season of the ’80s, and he was named to the All-NBA team five times. Eventually, Abdul-Jabbar obliterated the Lakers franchise blocks record and ended up second in points and rebounds, behind Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, respectively. He’s still secondary to Johnson in Lakers lore, but is the only teammate that can lay claim to a greater overall career.

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