[Charles Henrickson]

You have no true power forward on your team. Chamberlain, O'Neal, and Abdul-Jabbar were all true centers. The LA Lakers have not really had any great power forwards. (The Minneapolis Lakers did, but I'm not counting them. That's also why I don't consider Mikan at center.) But I think either Kareem or Shaq could play power forward. Wilt did not run the court that well in his Laker years. Kareem relied on height and agility. Shaq is pure power, much like Wilt. (I saw both Chamberlain and Alcindor/Abdul-Jabbar play in person many, many times during the early-mid '70s, when they came to Chicago.) So I'll take the three of them and rotate them at the two big-man positions. Kareem is actually the greatest of them as an LA Laker. Wilt's best years were elsewhere, and Shaq has a few more years to go yet to be ranked with Kareem.

Here's my all-time LA Laker team:

Center/Power forwards
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Shaquille O'Neal
Wilt Chamberlain (back-up)

Small forwards
Elgin Baylor
James Worthy (back-up)

Guards
Ervin "Magic" Johnson
Jerry West
Kobe Bryant (back-up)

Only eight players, you say? That's all that would be needed. And the team would never lose a game. Also, these are the only truly great, Hall-of-Fame-type players the LA Lakers have had.

[diamond6]

Center/Power forwards

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Shaquille O'Neal

Wilt Chamberlain (back-up)

Small forwards

Elgin Baylor

James Worthy (back-up)

Guards

Ervin "Magic" Johnson

Jerry West

Kobe Bryant (back-up)

I don't think Kareem and Shaq rebound enough to be power forwards, and I don't think they could defend as well as Wilt, either. As I said earlier, Wilt was still rebounding with the Lakers. But I like your idea of rotating the three, and Elgin for Worthy is not a bad tradeoff.

[altair]

Only eight players, you say? That's all that would be needed.

You have a pretty good team, but even in his prime, Jerry West was injury prone. You need a backup for him when he breaks his nose.