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Likely not team in NBA history has as much history. It's largely why this post is dedicated to the best Lakers plays in Los Angeles history, which was a list difficult to put together.
Nevertheless, grab your beverage of choice, as we have 50 of the Los Angeles Lakers best plays to get through.
50.) Jerry West attacked the basket and finished it with a majestic reverse layup against the Celtics.
49.) Wilt Chamberlain used his height as his might and warned opposing teams of his prowess as he went on to posterize a defender with a huge slam.
48.) Bill Walton thought he’ll have an easy score, but with Kareem in sight, better be ready for a plan B. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar totally obliterated this shot by Walton to deny him two points.
47.) (May 12, 2012) Kobe Bryant iced the game with a late-game three-pointer vs. the Nuggets to give the Lakers a showdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs.
46.) (February 21, 2020) Newly acquired Danny Green displays his chemistry with the King as shown in this fastbreak play in which the two connected for an alley-oop dunk
45.) Wilt Chamberlain is truly the ruler of the paint during his era as displayed by this majestic play from under the rim with this reverse dunk.
44.) (December 18, 2017) Larry Nance Jr. made a poster, but unfortunately for Kevin Durant he got included on it as a defender. Nance Jr. reached the skies and used his wingspan to deliver the slam.
43.) (March 8, 2013) After sending the game to an extra period, Kobe Bryant leaped for the game-winning slam with few ticks remaining to give the Lakers a huge OT win against the visiting Raptors.
42.) A young Shaquille O’Neal displayed his athleticism as he went coast-to-coast on this fastbreak play, pulled off a spin move and a nasty slam for the finish
41.) Shaq blocked Rex Chapman so strongly that the arena lost its power for a while. A display of what Shaq is all about on defense
40.) Alex Caruso never fails to impress and electrify everyone especially when he leaps in the air to finish plays with nasty slam dunks
39.) Magic Johnson grabbed the loose ball and turned it into a clutch logo bucket to tie the game with a few ticks remaining against the Houston Rockets.
38.) (June 8, 2010) Up by four with less than a minute to go, Derek Fisher sank a fastbreak layup despite being surrounded by three Celtics defenders to ice the game and give the Lakers a 2-1 series lead over the Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals
37.) LBJ simply ruled the Kings in this play, Nemanja Bjelica can’t stop LeBron James from imposing his will as he got posterized via a rim-rattling dunk.
36.) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was able to sneak in a bucket despite the Celtics’ tough defense. He managed to score on a reverse dunk with Robert Parish and Larry Bird guarding him.
35.) (October 22, 2018) LeBron James brought his dominance to the West Coast and quickly provided his new team a classic moment in his third game as Laker. The King’s clutch three against the Spurs forced OT and the Lakers went on to grab the W in the extra period, 143-142.
34.) (February 11, 2011) Shannon Brown made an ugly pass look good by catching it in mid-air for the superb alley-oop slam in front of the MSG crowd.
33.) Magic Johnson turned the ball over, but was able to bounce back quickly as he recorded a steal and an assist to Kurt Rambis while he’s literally sitting on the floor
32.) Shaquille O’Neal truly frustrates defenders with his enormous strength and Chris Dudley wasn’t an exemption to that as he got posterized by this Shaq attack move
https://streamable.com/a7ynat
31.) Jerry West attacked the basket and finished it with a majestic reverse layup against the Lakers’ rival, the Celtics.
30.) (April 26, 2011) Kobe Bryant is in playoff mode, and in this game against the New Orleans Hornets, the Black Mamba delivered one of his most memorable dunks by posterizing Emeka Okafor.
29.) (October 9, 2020) The Bron and AD duo led the Lakers to their first title in 10 years, and in their NBA Finals clash against the Heat after they proved their teamwork is able to create buckets and majestic plays
28.) With the game on the line against the Celtics, Magic Johnson was still able to sink this tough jumper against two white jerseys to give the Lakers an improbable win.
https://streamable.com/i3tstw
28.) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sank two clutch free throws to lift the Lakers over the Pistons, 103-102 and force a winner take all 7th game in the 1989 NBA Finals. The Lakers went on to win in the next game to claim the title.
https://streamable.com/9jmqg3
27.) (August 10, 2020) Kyle Kuzma got his shining moment in the NBA as he provided the KO blow against the Nuggets at the bubble. Not even Bol Bol could stop Kuz from draining this clutch three
26.) A young Kobe Bryant showed the world what he’s capable off as he delivered a 360 fastbreak dunk against cross-town rivals Clippers
25.) Wilt Chamberlain used his height as his might and warned opposing teams of his prowess as he went on to posterize a defender with a huge slam.
24.) (January 31, 2010) In what would be the preview of the 2010 NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant finished another game in style as he hit a clutch jumper to give the Lakers a 90-89 win over the Boston Celtics.
23.) Don’t leave the mamba wide-opened, the Nuggets probably did not anticipate this majestic play by Kobe Bryant as they allowed him to pull with this behind-the-back reverse slam
https://streamable.com/wkrdgs
22.) The Twin Towers (Tim Duncan and David Robinson) were one of the most formidable forces in the paint, but Shaq wanted to test that with this superb slam from under the rim.
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21.) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar put matters in his own hands. He went on to use his signature skyhook as time expired and successfully gave the Lakers a clutch win over the Clippers.
https://streamable.com/ohdmoy
20.) (January 1, 2010) On the first day of the new decade, Kobe Bryant provided us NBA fans a shot to remember as he hit one of the most incredible corner threes in NBA history to give the Lakers a W over intra-state rival Sacramento Kings.
19.) Magic Johnson turned the ball over, but was able to bounce back quickly as he recorded a steal and an assist to Kurt Rambis while he’s literally sitting on the floor
18.) (June 17, 2010) Kobe Bryant got another big lift from Ron Artest as he went on to sink the three-pointer that iced the game versus the Celtics. The Lakers went on to win the series in seven to claim their second consecutive title.
17.) (April 30, 2006) Kobe Bryant tied the game at 90-apiece as time expired to send their playoff clash with the Suns to OT. The Lakers went on to win via another superb play from the Mamba in the extra period.
https://streamable.com/2tkfpr
16.) (April 5, 1984) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the NBA’s new scoring King as he passed fellow Laker Wilt Chamberlain’s total of 31,419 points by hitting a sky-hook (what else?) against the Jazz.
https://streamable.com/mzvaup
15.) Magic Johnson was able to pull off a miracle in the Mile High City as his three-pointer went nothing-but-net to give the Lakers a double OT win over the Nuggets
https://streamable.com/4xk5hj
14.) (April 30, 2010) Kobe Bryant might have missed the game’s potential game-winner, but the Thunder failed to stop Pau Gasol from scoring a putback bucket that gave the Lakers a 4-2 series win.
https://streamable.com/nfjsrq
13.) (April 29, 1970) The three-point line did not exist yet by this time, but it didn’t matter for the logo whether the shot counted as two or three points. He managed to sink a 60-foot buzzer beater to score two and give the Lakers a miraculous win over the Knicks.
https://streamable.com/iijevu
12.) (September 20, 2020) Anthony Davis fired the shot around the world as the Nuggets were simply outclassed by his offensive prowess. Though their opponents did everything right to defend him, they were simply overmatched by AD who gave the Lakers a 2-0 advantage via a three-pointer at the buzzer.
11.) (May 27, 2010) The double-team worked against Kobe in the game’s final seconds, but the Suns failed to realize that Ron Artest is just under the rim waiting to grab the miss and score the matchup’s deciding bucket.
10.) (April 30, 2006) Kobe Bryant shocked the Suns as he pulled out one of the most dramatic game-winners in NBA Playoffs history, hitting a jumper coming off a jump ball with few seconds remaining in OT.
9.) (June 11, 2009) Derek Fisher sank a deep three with 4.6 seconds left to tie for OT in Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals. The Lakers went on to take a 3-1 series lead after dominating the extra period.
https://streamable.com/l55x5n
8.) (December 4, 2009) The Mamba vs. The Flash, in a tight battle who wins? Kobe Bryant ensured that he would be the victor with this dramatic game-winning three against the Heat.
7.) (April 14, 2004) In the final game of the 2003-04 regular season, the playoff bound Lakers simply wanted to finish on a high note. Kobe Bryant hit a wild three-pointer against Ruben Patterson to send the game to OT against the Blazers, they went on to win in double OT courtesy of another (guess what?) Kobe Bryant clutch three.
https://streamable.com/zjwir7
6.) (May 13, 2004) Derek Fisher sank a near-impossible shot with 0.4 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a 3-2 series lead over the Spurs in the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals
https://streamable.com/oo5bow
5.) (April 13, 2016) Kobe Bryant wanted to end his career in memorable fashion and against the Jazz, The Mamba did not just hit the game’s deciding bucket, but also finished with a whopping total of 60 points. The Lakers were having a terrible season, there’s no denying that, but Kobe was able to pull a gem of a performance at its finale.
4.) (January 22, 2006) Kobe Bryant pulled off one of the most explosive scoring performances in NBA history by finishing with 81 points, yeah that’s right 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
https://streamable.com/k8ks13
3.) (June 9, 1987) Magic Johnson went on to hit one of the most memorable hook shots in the history of the NBA to give the Lakers a 3-1 edge against the Celtics in the fourth game of the 1987 NBA Finals.
2.) (June 4, 2000) Probably the Kobe-Shaq duo’s most memorable play. Down by 13 entering the fourth and facing elimination against the Blazers, the Lakers pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in NBA Playoffs history. The purple and gold capped it off with a Kobe to Shaq alley-oop connection.
1.) (May 26, 2000) Robert Horry sank a wide-opened three to give the Lakers a come-from-behind win against rivals Sacramento Kings in Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals to level the series at 2-apiece.
