Lakers: How Los Angeles Factors Into NBA History Of Playmaking Big Men

LA has been a destination for several taller lead ball handlers.

Brandon "Scoop B Robinson" of Bovada Sports recently spoke with  personality Gary Sheffield Jr. about how the league has changed the way it looks at ball handling big men, and used two of the greatest passers ever -- who just happen to be a pair of 6'9" Los Angeles Lakers -- to illustrate the way the NBA has evolved in its thinking about the concept.

Do you prefer your point guard to be 6’0 or 6’10? @GarysheffieldJr discusses the evolution of big men handling the ball in the NBA

cc @ScoopB

Watch the full episode 🎥➡️ https://t.co/loxWImFSQT pic.twitter.com/iLOc9d8iNy

— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) January 9, 2023

"Oversized players handling the ball. Yes, Magic Johnson could do it," Sheffield said. "But it was looked at as people saying, 'Well, he's just a freak of nature.' But when LeBron James started doing it, and he was considered the best player in the world, everyone wanted to figure out, 'How do we build that mold? How do we build our roster?' And everybody around was trying to build their roster [to accommodate bigger playmakers]. Ball handling guy. This guy's got this length. This guy's wingspan is this. And we started to focus on how many different positions and how big players can get, how tall they can get. And that's what you're watching." 

"You're watching point guards, dribble up the ball. You're watching [7'2" Orlando Magic point forward] Bol Bol dribble up the ball. And that's something that LeBron James has helped impact... But [Brooklyn Nets point forward] Ben Simmons to me is, you don't play point guard at 6'10" if LeBron James wasn't showing you it was possible."

James and Johnson are the sixth and seventh top passers in NBA and ABA history, respectively. At 10,301 career dimes, James is just 30 dishes shy of crashing the all-time top five, which would tie him with former All-Star New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers point guard Mark Jackson, and just 31 passes short of tying fourth-ranked former Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers MVP point guard Steve Nash.