Lakers All-decade Team

Last decade was very successful for Lakers in NBA. Sports Illustrated's named Lakers the franchise of the decade and Phil Jackson was selected as the coach of the decade. Kobe Bryant was called the seventh-best male athlete of the decade.

Lakers started 2000 by winning three consecutive championships, beating Indiana, Philadelphia and New Jersey, respectively, at the NBA Finals. They finished the decade by winning another title, this time over Orlando.

They also reached two other Finals in 2004, losing to the Detroit Pistons, and in 2008, losing to the rebuilt Boston Celtics. The Lakers won 530 regular season games during the 10-year period, trailing both the San Antonio Spurs (576) and even the title-less Dallas Mavericks (548). But they won when it counted.


Although Coach Phil Jackson and point guard Derek Fisher were part of all four NBA championships for the Lakers, only Kobe Bryant was part of every season along the way.

Starting lineup:

• Derek Fisher
• Kobe Bryant
• Rick Fox
• Paul Gasol
• Shaquille O'Neal

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal produced 3 titles together and are the best players in all categories. Derek Fisher has four titles and is very devoted to Lakers success all time. Three titles has Rick Fox. These players played more seasons for Lakers with team success and personal contribution. Pau Gasol played only two seasons for Lakers, but he contribution two these two successful seasons was very high.

Reserve lineup:

• Lamar Odom
• Robert Horry
• Andrew Bynum
• Luke Walton
• Devean George
• Jordan Farmar
• Chris Mihm

Shaq successor Lamar Odom played six seasons for Lakers and has title and final participation. He would have role of the sixth man. Andrew Bynum should be the player of next decade. The role players are Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Chris Mihm. From the teams of the begin of the decade are selected Devean George and Robert Horry (7-time NBA Champion).

Stars lineup:

• Gary Payton
• Caron Butler
• Glen Rice
• Karl Malone
• Ron Artest

For Lakers played some great players for only short time. These players will be candidate for Hall Of Fame members. When these players could play together it will be very strong lineup. Only Glen Rice became Champion with Lakers. Famose Malone and Payton stayed one step back in the 2004 Finals.


Garbage lineup:

• Smush Parker
• Stanislav Medvedenko
• Kwame Brown
• Sasha Vujacic
• Brian Cook

And at the end here is the worst roster of Lakers players. These players got a lot of chances, but their performance never been as was expected. The biggest disappointment of decade was Kwame Brown, the drafted number one. His performance was very poor and patience of Phil Jackson wasn't endless. In this roster is also Sasha Vujacic, because his current performance is really weak and behind expectation.

Special thanks for contribution to Lakers success belong to:

• Brian Shaw - 4x NBA Champion (2000,2001,2002,2009 as a coach)
• Horace Grant - Championship in 2001 and 2004 Finals
  
• Ron Harper - 5x NBA Champion (2000, 2001 with Lakers)
  
• Ronny Turiaf
• Trevor Ariza (2009 Champion)
  

The fourth title for Bryant became his most satisfying, refuting the belief that he couldn't carry a team without O'Neal to ride. But he proved everyone wrong, bringing the Lakers back to where they always seem to be – on top of the NBA.