If you were watching NBA basketball during the JFK, LBJ, and Nixon presidential era, you must have fallen off your chair when ABC/ESPN broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy recently proclaimed Kobe Bryant the greatest Lakers’ player of all-time. Hell, he doesn’t even make my top four (yet).

What makes Van Gundy’s comment even more surprising is that he was born in 1962 and comes from a basketball family. His father, Bill, was head coach at Brockport State University, so I know he recalls the names West and Baylor – not to mention Magic and Kareem.

Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of Kobe. However, there’s no doubt he’s a great player – and, arguably, the best player in the NBA today. However, the greatest player in Lakers’ history? C’mon Jeff.

Being a Celtics’ fan since the Russell era, I’ve seen or listened to all the great Celtics-Lakers match-ups. Young NBA fans believe it was the Bird-Magic confrontations that made this rivalry what it is today, but it started long before that duo were even out of diapers. From the 1961-62 to 1968-69 seasons, they played each other in six of the eight NBA Finals. They also matched-up in 1959, when the Lakers played in Minneapolis. The Bird-Magic era was indeed exciting and helped save the NBA, but it was just a continuation of the game’s greatest rivalry.

So, after 50 years of NBA history behind me, I offer my Top 10 Lakers of all-time. However, two things to note about my list: Wilt Chamberlain only played four full seasons for the Lakers (he was hurt during the 1969-70 season. Plus, I consider Wilt more a Warrior/76er). And, I never saw George Mikan play.
1.    Jerry West
2.    Earvin “Magic” Johnson
3.    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4.    Elgin Baylor
5.    Kobe Bryant
6.    Shaquille O’Neil
7.    Gail Goodrich
8.    James Worthy
9.    Wilt Chamberlain
10.    George Mikan

It’s March Madness - so what better time to talk about college basketball’s greatest players? A poll by www.HOFmagazine.com provides a consensus list of the Top 10 college players of all-time from which to choose. The list consists of (alphabetically):

• Lew Alcindor, UCLA
• Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Bill Bradley, Princeton
• Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas
• Pete Maravich, LSU
• Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
• Bill Russell, San Francisco
• David Thompson, NC State
• Bill Walton, UCLA
• Jerry West, West Virginia

Again, the poll question asks who is the greatest - not who’s your favorite. That’s an important distinction. For me, my favorite college basketball player was Bill Bradley. But my greatest Top-5 is as follows:

• 5. Oscar Robertson
• 4. Pete Maravich
• 3. Bill Russell
• 2. Lew Alcindor ( Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)
• 1. Bill Walton

Choosing between Walton and Alcindor was difficult. I give the slight edge to Walton for his rebounding and more aggressive style of play. However, being a three-time Player of the Year with two National Titles, plus leading his UCLA team to an 88-game winning-streak certainly helped!