Lakers News: USA Today Panel Releases the 75 Greatest NBA Players, Number One Is Shocking

Lots of Lakers!

The ranking of 'who is the best NBA player of all time' is everyone's favorite thing to do when they want to be infuriated. It's like a national pastime at this point.

That said, USA today had a panel of voters put their list of their 75 best NBA players of all time, and averaged out the votes to create a penultimate list. Plenty of Lakers on that list, which is expected from arguably (definitely) the greatest NBA franchise out there. The number one player listed is sure to ruffle some feathers.

LeBron James. That's right folks. It's 2021 and someone finally unseated Michael Jordan as the consensus greatest NBA player of all time. I could see the argument for this, although I don't know if I would make it. James has certainly solidified his name in the top three with his career, and if you make the top three, does it seriously matter if a group of people squabble over 1-3?

Other Lakers to make the list are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 3, Magic Johnson at 5, Shaquille O'Neal at 7, Kobe Bryant at 8, Russell Westbrook at at 39, Anthony Davis at 44, Carmelo Anthony at 58, and Dwight Howard at 75. To view the list in its entirety, click here.

Michael Jordan has been considered the greatest basketball player of all time even before he retired. Some exceptions apply, but this has been a consensus choice for the better part of 2 plus decades. For James to be ranked above him is a watershed moment. Whether or not you agree with the choice here, the fact that anyone is willing to make that statement puts James in legend status. He's been an icon since career started, and his body of work certainly puts him worthy of the discussion.

It's worth noting that four of the Lakers potential starting five all made this list. Heavy roster, indeed!