Curated playlist
Los Angeles Lakers players
- LeBron JamesLeBron James led Cleveland back from a 3-1 Finals deficit, a first in NBA history. It ended a 52-year title wait.
- Kobe BryantKobe Bryant scored 81 points against Toronto in 2006, the second-highest NBA game total ever.
- Luka DončićAt seven, Luka Dončić played basketball against boys up to ten years old.
- Jerry WestThe NBA logo is a silhouette of Jerry West, and he was never paid for it.
- Karl MaloneKarl Malone played 193 playoff games without winning a championship. That is more than any player without a ring.
- Pau GasolPau Gasol first wanted to be a doctor and cure AIDS. Magic Johnson's 1991 announcement changed the boy's plans.
- Magic JohnsonMagic Johnson told the world he had HIV from the free throw line in 1991. He was 32 and a five-time NBA champion.
- Shaquille O'NealShaquille O'Neal twice broke steel backboard supports with his dunks. The NBA then redesigned its equipment.
- Luol DengAt 13, Luol Deng averaged 40 points a game against players up to five years older. He had already fled a civil war.
- Wilt ChamberlainNo camera filmed Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in one game. Only a radio broadcast of the fourth quarter survived.
- Steve NashIn grade eight, Steve Nash told his mother he would become an NBA star.
- Kareem Abdul-JabbarKareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain's career scoring record with a skyhook over a 7-foot-4 defender.
- Andrew BogutAndrew Bogut was cut from a junior state team at fifteen. He became the first Australian picked first in the NBA draft.
- Vlade DivacVlade Divac was traded for a teenage Kobe Bryant. The Lakers center had arrived from Yugoslavia speaking no English.