A fans perspective 

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Did you see this

You may have seen this already, ESPN presented its Top 10 player rankings for the 2025-26 season. Do you believe Wemby has moved into this list without playing three seasons? What about Luka, do you think ESPN’s rated him too high? Does Jalen Brunson belong on a list of the top players in the NBA? Who do you believe was left off the list, where is Jayson Tatum (injury aside) or Jaylin Brown? Tatum and Brown were the clear leaders to the Celtics 2024 championship. The list has no Karl-Anthony Towns, James Harden or Donovan Mitchell, in any event below is the complete list:

  1. Jokic

  2. SGA

  3. Luka

  4. Giannis

  5. Wemby

  6. Ant

  7. Curry

  8. LeBron

  9. KD

10. Brunson

Meanwhile….

The basketball landscape has changed in 20 short years. Let’s check out the ACC, it once contained 11 teams in the 2004-05 season. The ACC now consists of 18 teams, added since 2005 are Boston College, Cal, SMU, Louisville, Stanford, Notre Dame, Pitt and Syracuse. The SEC back then was a 12 team conference, it’s now 16 teams having added Texas A&M, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. I have no intention of going through this conference by conference. The Big 12 has also seen change during this period, in that year there were 12 teams. Since then Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas A&M have all departed. They have been replaced by Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah plus BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, TCU, UCF and West Virginia. The plan is to detail the changes in a short space of time. As for the Pac-12 this conference remains on life-support hoping to sustain itself. 

I ain’t no hater, I can be critical of an athlete, an individual and an organization at times. I could use our local hero Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, for every 10 fans here and maybe across the nation there are 5-6 who dislike him for no apparent principle. They are tired of the Super Bowl wins, the commercials and plus the fact his Chiefs beat their favorites. The Lakers are in the same category, they haven’t won it outright since 2020 yet there are a legion of fans downplaying that championship season. They use all kinds of excuses to justify their position which boiled down is simple hatred. I would never root against an opposing player hoping for an injury or something similar to take him out of the game…that’s hating for no practical reason.

Have you seen the photos of Zion Williamson yet from media day? The Pelicans power forward has been on a strict campaign this off season to tone his body including slimming down. As you might be aware his injury history has kept him from performing at the level the Pelicans and most of the NBA community expected. At one time Williamson was reported to be in the neighborhood of 284+ pounds. That weight is not uncommon for many centers in the past and present, for a guy who is 6-foot 7 and maybe an inch smaller the extra pounds may have been a contributing factor in his injury history since his arrival in the NBA. The photos I’ve seen display a slim, trim Zion Williamson, he’s reported to have lost 40 pounds which should place him somewhere between 244-246 pounds.

I remember last season, it was June 2024 in fact, the Lakers were chasing Dan Hurley UConn head coach. “On June 10, coach Dan Hurley turned down a reported six-year, $70 million contract offer from the Los Angeles Lakers to remain the head coach at the University of Connecticut.”  I was extremely disappointed in the fact Hurley had turned the Lakers down, it was clear they needed veteran leadership at the first chair. On June 24, 2024, the team announced they were hiring former NBA player JJ Redick, I was extremely upset with the hire because Redick had never served as a head coach anywhere. A short time later I’m not sure of the date decided I would give him some “rope” because he’d hire veteran assistants who previously were head coaches. Fast forward to September 25, 2025, the Lakers announced Redick was signing a contract extension, he’s proven in the short space of time he's turned out to be a very good NBA head coach. He was better prepared for the opportunity to coach than what I first thought.

The all-time Lakers

I found this interesting I hope you do as well. The MO Sports Networks’ Myron Beena Goodson put together his all-time list of the top 5 NBA players at each position. This is the portion I discovered most interesting, the Lakers failed to land a player on his power forward team as for the others that was a different matter. At the point he placed Magic Johnson, certainly not shocking considering he was the bus that drove the Showtime Lakers. The small forward position had Elgin Baylor and also included LeBron James. At the center position there was the smooth Kareem Abdul Jabbar and his skyhook plus Shaquille O’ Neal and his bruising play. The shooting guard’s on Goodson’s team was comprised of Jerry West and the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant.

I had written earlier one of the keys to success of the Lakers was an abundance of talent. All of the names listed are enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame with James being the exception, he will earn a spot just as soon as he retires. You might wonder about the power forward position and why no Lakers earned a spot on Goodson’s list. Most of you reading this might not be familiar with Vern Mikkelsen, he played for the Minneapolis edition from 1949-1959. Mikkelsen is enshrined in the College and Naismith Hall of Fame. After checking the list I could nominate Pau Gasol, he too is in the Naismith Hall of Fame. The other greats played for the Lakers but were near the end of their careers as an example Connie Hawkins and Karl Malone. What do you think, are there other former Lakers at any position Goodson missed?