Earvin "Magic" Johnson

When we think of the Lakers the first player we ever think of is Magic Johnson. He changed the way the game was played. The 6 ft 9 in, 255 lb Johnson played the point guard position and is one of the most successful and unique players in the history of the game. He is a five-time NBA champion and a 12-time All-Star, earned a place on ten All-NBA teams, and was three times named MVP of the regular season and the Finals. In 905 NBA games, he scored 17,707 points, 6,559 rebounds and 10,141 assists, translating to career averages of 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 11.2 assists per game.

Beyond statistics, Johnson is regarded by the NBA as one of the most spectacular and crowd-pleasing players ever. He entertained a generation of fans with his uncanny passing and dribbling talents, especially showcased in his trademark "no look" passes, and was famous for his enthusiastic, cheerful nature on and off the court. He was also a unique player because he played point guard despite being 6-9, a size reserved normally for front court players. Johnson combined the size of a power forward, the one-on-one skills of a swingman and the ball handling talent of a guard, making him one of the most dangerous triple-double threats of all time: his 138 triple-double-games are second only to Oscar Robertson's 181.

For his feats, Johnson was voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time by the NBA in 1996 and introduced into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2006, ESPN.com rated Johnson the greatest point guard of all time. The popular Californian funk-rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers immortalized Johnson in a song called Magic Johnson on their fourth album Mother's Milk.

Awards:

3 time NBA MVP - 1987 - 1989 - 1990

5 time NBA Champion - 1980 - 1982 - 1985 - 1987 - 1988

3 time NBA Finals MVP - 1980 - 1982 - 1987

12 time All Star 1980 - 81 -82 -83 - 84 - 85 -86 - 87 - 88 - 89 - 90 - 91 - 92

1992 Olympic gold medalist

NBA's 50th Anniversary All Time Team - 1997

Hall Of Fame - 2002

Kobe Bryant

17 year old Kobe Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. He had made an impression on then Lakers GM Jerry West who had a way of knowing future potential when he seen it. West saw something in Kobe. He traded his starting center Vlade Divac to Charlotte for this young kid named Bryant. Thank god he did because Kobe would later be part of a Laker team that had Shaq O'neal on it and probably the best coach of all time Phil Jackson. This threesome lead the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. As of 2007 Kobe holds many Laker records and still has many years to go. Besides that here is a list of some of his rewards and achievements.

MVP Awards: 2008

• 3-time NBA Champion: 2000, 2001, 2002
• 2-time Scoring Champion: 2006, 2007
• 10-time NBA All-Star: 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
  

• Has started in each of his appearances
• 10 consecutive appearances (No All-Star game in 1999 due to league-wide lock-out)

• 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2002, 2007
• 10-time All-NBA Selection:

• First Team: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
  
• Second Team: 2000, 2001
• Third Team: 1999, 2005

• 8-time All-Defensive Selection:

• First Team: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
  
• Second Team: 2001, 2002

• NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 1997
• NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Champion: 1997
• NBA regular season leader in:

• points: 2003 (2,461), 2006 (2,832, 7th in NBA history), 2007 (2,430), 2008 (2,323)
  
• points per game: 2006 (35.4, 9th in NBA history), 2007 (31.6)
• field goals attempted: 2006 (2,173), 2007 (1,757)
• field goals made: 2003 (868), 2006 (978), 2007 (813)
• free throws attempted: 2007 (768)
• free throws made: 2006 (696), 2007 (667)

• 2nd most points in a Game: 81 (January 22, 2006 vs. the Toronto Raptors)

• Youngest player to be named to the NBA All-Defensive Team (1999-2000)
• Youngest Slam Dunk champion (18 years, 175 days), after winning the contest at the1997 NBA All-Star Weekend.
  

Slater Martin

Slater Martin was the point guard on the first NBA Dynasty in Minneapolis. He played alongside two other Laker greats named George Mikan and Jim Pollard. Martin was the man who got the ball to the main contributors. His stats were never really that great, barely averaging over 10 points a game most season, he played a very strong defensive game and could stay on the floor for long amounts of time. He managed to make every all-star team from 1953-1959 and was on the Second All-NBA Team from 1955-1959, some of those years spent with St Louis. He was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1981.Martin was one of the NBA's best defensive players in the 1950's while playing for the George Mikan -led Minneapolis Lakers that won four NBA championships between 1950 and 1954. In 1956 he joined Bob Pettit's St. Louis Hawks and won another NBA title in 1958 but will always be remembered as the man distributing the basketball for that Laker dynasty.

Jim Pollard

Pollard was the number two option in Minneapolis with George Mikan. Posting 13 ppg and 7 rpg, Pollard was a very big and strong individual back in the 1950s. He played in the first All-Star game in 1951, and then every other one (except 1953) until he retired in 1954. With the exception of 1953, he made the First Team All-NBA (or BAA) team every single year he played. Along with Slater Martin and Mikan, they formed the first dynasty of the NBA. Pollard was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977, and passed away in 1993.Pollard teamed with George Mikan and Vern Mikkelsen for the Minneapolis Lakers, forming one of the best frontcourts in basketball history. The Lakers won fice NBA titles between 1949 and 1954.

Pollard ended his career after seven seasons in the NBA in 1955. He went on to coach La Salle University men's basketball for three seasons from 1955-1958, compiling a record of 48-28.

Pat Riley

Pat Riley was a good basketball player but was a GREAT basketball coach. He will always be remembered as a coach instead of a player. He was a player on the 1972 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Six games into the 1981-82 season, Magic Johnson began to publicly say he was unhappy playing for PaulWesthead. Lakers' owner Jerry Buss immediately called a press conference and fired Westhead, and then immediately named general manager Jerry West head coach. West, at the conference, refused the job on the spot. Buss then turned to Riley and asked, "Do you want the job?" Riley reluctantly agreed, but only if West would sit on the bench for a few games until he felt comfortable. He soon got comfortable and led his Lakers. His first title came in his first season, against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers earned Riley his second NBA title as a coach in 1985 against the Boston Celtics. 1n 1987 he got his third title as coach as the Lakers beat Boston. After winning that NBA title Pat Riley guaranteed the home crowd at the Lakers victory parade that the Lakers would repeat next season. he was a man of his word as he captured his 4th coaching title as the Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons. Riley stepped down as coach of the Lakers after they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the 1990 NBA playoffs, amid rumors of player mistreatment and anger problems on his part. In spite of these rumors and his resignation, he was named NBA Coach of the Year for the first time. Riley later went on to coach the New York Knicks and Miami Heat.

Chick Hearn

The Lakers had who most consider the best play by play announcer of all time, Chick Hearn will always be remembered for inventing his own lingo such as slam dunk, air ball, and no harm, no foul that have become common basketball phrases. During his career he broadcasted 3,338 consecutive Lakers games beginning on November 21, 1965 and ending in the 2001 season when he had to have cardiac bypass surgery. He first started as the teams broadcaster in March of 1961 and his final Laker game broadcast came during game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals when the Lakers beat the New Jersey Nets to three-peat as the NBA champions, quite a way for the Lakers to end the Chick Hearn legacy. Before the next season would start Chick Hearn suffered a fall at his home and hit his head which caused a serious injury. He was rushed to the hospital, three days later he died from the injury. The Lakers and the city of Los Angeles honored Chick by renaming a portion of 11th Street Chick Hearn Court, this street runs alongside Staples Center's main entry. The city also renamed the blue line station into Pico-Chick Hearn. Chick was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. In 1995 he was inducted into the Sportscaster Hall of Fame by fellow sportscasters. Here are some sayings, lingo, phrases or as some call it - CHICK-ISMS - created by Chick Hearn.

• 20 foot lay-up: A jump shot by Jamaal Wilkes
• Air-ball: A shot that draws nothing but air.
• (He sent that one back) Air-mail Special!: A strongly-blocked shot, often sent high into the stands.
• Bloooows the layup! : Missed a very easy layup.
• Boo-birds: Fans who boo their own team when they play badly.
• (He did the) bunny hop in the pea patch: He was called for traveling.
• (You could) call it with Braille: An easy call for an official, e.g. a blatant foul.
• (He got) caught with his hand in the cookie jar: A reaching foul.
• (The) Charity Stripe: The free-throw line.
• (He's got 'em) covered like the rug on your floor: Really good one-on-one defense.
• (They) couldn't beat the Sisters of Mercy: The team is getting beat badly.
• (They) couldn't throw a pea into the ocean: The team's shooting is really awful.
• (It'll) count if it goes ...: A player that is fouled in the act of shooting. It go-o-o-oes! (if the shot is successful)
• (That shot) didn't draw iron: A shot which misses the rim, but hits the backboard. Sometimes, would add but it drew a lot of flies
• Dime store score: A 10 to 5 score
• Dribble-drive: A player drives the basket while dribbling.
• Finger roll: A shot where the ball rolls off the shooter's fingers.
• (He) fly-swatted (that one): A shot blocked with force and authority.
• Football score: A score resembling one often seen in a football game (e.g., 21 to 14).
• (He threw up a) frozen rope: A shot with a very flat trajectory.
• (We're) high above the western sideline: Chick's perch at the Forum, from which he called his word's eye views of the game.
• Hippity-hops the dribble: A player dribbling the ball does a little hop step.
• I'll bet you an ice-cream: Hearn and Keith Erickson (his one-time color commentator) often bet ice creams on the outcome of a shot or game.
• (He's got) ice-water in his veins: When a player hits a clutch free-throw.
• (It's) First and ten: Multiple players are sprawled on the floor after a physical play or diving for the ball.
• (It's) garbage time: The (often sloppily-played) remainder of the game (after it’s in the refrigerator).
• Give and Go: A player passes the ball, makes a quick cut, and receives a return pass.
• (In & out,) heart-brrrreak!: A shot that appears to go in, but rattles off the rim and misses. Sometimes it went in so far you could read the Commissioner's name from below.
• He has two chances, slim and none, and slim just left the building: The player has no chance of success with this play.
• If that goes in, I'm walking home: Similar to a prayer, when the opponent shoots a shot that is a prayer, a streak, or some amazing shot. (Usually on the road)
• Leapin' Lena: A shot made while the player is in the air and off balance.
• Marge could have made that shot: a missed shot that was so easy, Hearn's wife Marge could have made it. Marge was often referred to when a player messed up something that was easy.
• (There are) lots of referees in the building, only three getting paid: The entire crowd acts as though they are the officials by disagreeing with a call.
• The mustard's off the hot dog: A player attempts an unnecessarily showy, flashy play which ends up in a turnover or is otherwise unsuccessful.
• My grandmother could guard him, and she can't go to her left!: Said of a slow, out of shape, or hurt player.
• Nervous time: When the final moments of a game are pressure-packed.
• 94-by-50 hunk of wood: The basketball court, based on the floor's dimensions. (Attacking 47 feet: The front court.)
• No harm, no foul(no blood, no ambulance, no stitches): A non-call by an official when varying degrees of contact have occurred. More adjectives means the non-call was more questionable.)
• Not Phi Beta Kappa: Not a smart play.
• ...Since Hector was a pup A very long time (e.g., the Lakers haven't had the lead since Hector was a pup.)
• He's in the Popcorn Machine (with butter and salt all over him): Meaning that a defensive player got faked into the air (and out of play) by an offensive player's pump fake. ("Popcorn Machine" is a reference to an actual popcorn machine in the old Los Angeles Sports Arena, which was near the basket, but far away from the court. Thus, if the player went far out of play, he was in the "popcorn machine.")
• (He's) on him like a postage stamp: Very tight defense.
• Slam Dunk!: Hearn's most famous phrase; a powerful shot where a player forces the ball through the rim with one or both hands.
• (He) takes him to the third floor and leaves him at the mezzanine: A move where an offensive player pump-fakes a defender and draws a foul from the leaping player.
• Tattoo dribble: A player dribbling the ball while not moving, as though tattooing the floor with the ball, as he waits for the play to develop.
• This game's in the refrigerator: the door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O's jigglin'!: The game's outcome is set; only the final score is in question. Chick's variation on "the game's on ice."
• Throws up a brick: When a player tosses up a particularly errant shot.
• Throws up a prayer (... it's answered!!!): A wild shot that will need a miracle to score (and does).
• Ticky-tack: A foul called when very little contact has been made.
• Triple Double: A player gets 10 or more (i.e. double digits) in three statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals or blocked shots.
• (On his) wallet: A player fell on his rear end.
• Words-eye view: What listeners received while listening to Hearn call the game on the radio.
• (He's) working on his Wrigleys. A player is chewing gum.
• (He's) yo-yo-ing up and down: A player dribbles in one place as if he were playing with a yo-yo on a string.

Chick's nicknames for Laker Players

• Kareem Abdul - Jabbar: Cap, The Captain, Big Fella
• Kobe Bryant: The Kid
• Cedric Ceballos: Garbage Man
• Michael Cooper: Secretary of Defense
• Rick Fox: Foxy
• Gail Goodrich: Stumpy (because of his height) This nickname, frequently used by Hearn, was actually given to Goodrich by teammate Elgin Baylor.
  
• Magic Johnson: Buck, The Magic Man
• Shaquille O'Neal: Big Fella
• Kurt Rambis: Blue-collar Kurt, Clark Kent (because of his safety glasses)
• Jerry West: Mr. Clutch, Zeke from Cabin Creek
• James Worthy: Big Game James
• Nick Van Exel: Nick the Quick, Nick Van Excellent
• Sedale Threatt: The Thief
• Eddie Jones: Fast Eddie, The Pickpocket
• Derek Fisher: Fish
• Eddie Jordan: Thief of Baghdad

Michael Cooper

Michael Cooper -played his entire 12 year NBA career with the Lakers and was always a fan favorite, Laker fans at the Great Western Forum was chant "Cooooooooop" whenever he handled the basketball. He was a Los Angeles native growing up in Pasadena, California and attending Pasadena City College before transferring to the University of New Mexico. He came to the Lakers in the 1978 draft and became one of the main pieces of the 80's showtime Lakers. He was respected by all for his tough defensive skills even though he stood 6'7" and a real thin 174 lbs. Cooper would usually get assigned to the toughest defensive jobs. Larry Bird once said that Cooper was the toughest defensive player he ever played against. He was not a big scorer averaging only 8.9 PPG, 4.2 A, 3.2 R and 1.2 steals per game in his career but it seemed like whenever the Lakers needed a big three pointer or block that Cooper was always there delivering at the right time. Eight times he was named to eight NBA All Defensive teams, five times on the first team. Once, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. Alongside of Magic and Kareem he would win five NBA championships during the 80's - 1980 - 1982 - 1985 - 1987 and 1988. The Lakers sometimes ran an alley-oop play for him that was dubbed the "Coop-a-loop." Retiring after the 1989-90 season, he was ranked among the club’s all-time top 10 in three-point field goals (378), games played (793), total minutes played (21,784), steals (966), blocked shots (487), assists (3,451), defensive rebounds (1,860), offensive rebounds (682) and free throw percentage (.829).