LA Lakers: 10 Most Entertaining Players in Franchise History

This article will look at the 10 most entertaining players in Los Angeles Lakers history.

This slideshow is certainly not lacking in variety. It contains a coach, some of the team’s all-time greatest players and players whose names are potentially only familiar to the most loyal of fans.

But all of them have one thing in common. They have all provided entertainment to fans while representing the Lakers franchise.

10. Slava Medvedenko

Bar none, Slava Medvedenko was the most inadvertently entertaining Laker of all-time. Slava never met a jump shot he wasn’t in love with, in addition to being a “fabulous” interview. Just check out the video above.

9. Mark Madsen

Unless one is being cynical, Mark Madsen was not very entertaining on the basketball court, averaging just a little over two points a game in his three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But his dancing during the team’s championship parades was a completely different story.

Madsen stole the spotlight with some “outstanding” dance moves.

If you have never seen the footage, or you just want to relive old memories, check out the video which accompanies this slide.

8. Dennis Rodman

For 23 games during the lockout shortened 1998-99 season, Dennis Rodman crashed the glass and undermined team chemistry with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite averaging 11 rebounds a contest, Rodman thought team meetings, practices and sometimes even games were optional.

7. Ron Artest

NBA fans knew of Ron Artest’s entertaining, unusual and sometimes volatile behavior long before he joined the Los Angeles Lakers. And minus changing his name and providing the world with one of the most entertaining postgame press conferences of all-time, Ron Ron has been a model citizen in his time with the Lakers.

6. Phil Jackson

Aside from arguably being the franchise’s all-time greatest coach, winning five championships in 11 seasons, Phil Jackson provided plenty of entertainment when the team wasn’t on the court, playing his famous “Zen Mind Games” with opposing players and coaches, game officials and even his own players.

5. Jerry West

Jerry West was the Los Angeles Lakers’ first superstar, playing his rookie campaign during the franchise’s first year in Los Angeles. West helped lead the team to the 1972 championship. However, before West and the Lakers hit paydirt in ’72, they lost in the NBA Finals seven times.

The fact that West played the role of “lovable loser” in the midst of his illustrious career made him all the more entertaining.

4. Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant will one day be on the Los Angeles Lakers Mt. Rushmore, along with Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But he is also one of the most polarizing athletes of all-time.

So, Kobe has provided entertainment to two large groups of people: those who adore him and fawn over his every move and those who can’t stand the man.

3. Shaquille O'Neal

Not only did Shaquille O’Neal lead the team to three consecutive championships, he was never short on providing famous one-liners to members of the media.

After all, he was the one who referred to the Sacramento Kings as the “Queens” and dubbed Chris Bosh as the “RuPaul of big men.”

2. Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson is largely considered to be the greatest Laker of all-time. His Hall of Fame career played a big part in earning this moniker amongst fans. But his one of a kind, charismatic personality didn’t hurt, either.

Magic galvanized Angelinos on and off the basketball court.

1. Chick Hearn

Chick Hearn never wore a Lakers uniform or coached a single game in his life, and he is the most entertaining Laker of them all. In his 42-year career as play-by-play announcer for the Lakers, Hearn called 3,338 games for the team.

Along the way, Hearn coined some of the most common, popular basketball terms of all-time, including slam dunk and air ball.