Has LeBron James had a better Lakers career than Wilt Chamberlain?

Has LeBron James had a more successful Lakers career than Wilt Chamberlain?
After five seasons in Los Angeles, how does LeBron James compare to Lakers legends like Wilt Chamberlain?

So far, who had the best Laker career? Wilt, or LeBron?
All-time Laker starting at 5? (An true starting lineup, not just the five best players. If you could reverse Shaq’s move to Miami, what changes would you make?
What a fun set of questions. Let’s start from the top.

Initially, my thoughts on a Wilt Chamberlain vs. LeBron James discussion were clear: LeBron. But what makes this a particularly relevant issue is that LeBron has only played 10 more regular season games than Wilt, making it simple to compare.

Statistically, LeBron is superior across the board. Wilt averaged more rebounds and had an effective field goal percentage that was three percentage points better. In terms of accomplishments, both have one championship and one Finals MVP, with LeBron making more All-NBA teams and Wilt making more All-Defense teams.

So, in that sense, everything is roughly equal.

So what about the non-statistical stuff? LeBron was obviously The Guy when he won the title. When Wilt won, he was third on the team in scoring, however he did have a lot of rebounds in the 1972 Finals.

Wilt’s tenure in Los Angeles may go unnoticed since he spent the majority of it playing second or third fiddle to Elgin Baylor or Jerry West. However, with LeBron on the roster, the Lakers have had much more failures than successes. How much of that falls at his feet?

I guess I’d lean towards Wilt because of his overall success, even in a much weaker NBA in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

If you’re looking for a true power forward, no one comes close to Pau Gasol in team history, unless you like Dennis Rodman’s dozen games.

The centre position is full of men. Shaq was the most dominant player in NBA history during his time with the Lakers. But Kareem is Kareem, man.

Finally, I revisited the Shaq deal, and it was not terrific given who Shaq was at the time.

While Shaq’s relationship with the Lakers had deteriorated, he was still 31 years old and had averaged 21.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks on 58.4% field goal shooting while competing with Kobe for the ball.

However, the time was different. Today, that guy will get you a king’s ransom. Back then, the Lakers acquired Caron Butler, Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, a 2006 first-round draft pick (Jordan Farmar), and a 2007 second-round draft pick (Renaldas Seibutis).

Butler had a tremendous season before being suddenly moved for Kwame Brown, which is a very horrible deal in team history. Grant did little as a Laker and was just pay ballast in this deal.

Odom proved to be a valuable asset to the title-winning teams. Farmar also had a successful career as a Lakers reserve guard. Ultimately, if you want to play the transitive game, Butler led to the Lakers acquiring Pau, which was significant. However, by today’s standards, it was not a particularly good trade.

If you’re looking for a fun what-if, you could ask for another first-round choice in, say, 2008. That year, the Heat reached rock bottom and selected Michael Beasley with the second overall choice. But with O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love, and….Russell Westbrook all available, things could have turned out a lot more interesting.

BeautifulLakes
How do we feel about seeing if any former Lakers want to rejoin the team? Particularly any of the Baby Lakers. Many former Lakers are free agents.

Look, I’ll always have a soft spot for Baby Lakers. I’ve enjoyed having D’Angelo Russell back. But if there’s one player I truly want back, it’s Lonzo Ball.

He is not a free agent this year, but if he returns and is healthy next season, I’m all in for a Lonzo reunion. I also enjoy Larry Nance Jr. and hope to see him return someday.

There is, of course, Alex Caruso, but that one still hurts.