As I sit at home more often than not, I am usually consumed by sports. As my recent blogs have stated (vividly), though, there's nothing going on right now that would qualify as exciting. So, I decided, for the month of July (but starting today), to run a My List special. Every list in this marathon will be devoted to choosing the best players in the history of each qualified NBA franchise.

This is not a new concept for me; I tried a similar concept in a group for this site, but I abandoned it because, well, having only one active member doesn't a group make. And when I tried to bring it to the main blog pages, I was met with questions like "I'm confused. Is it just the best players, or is it single-season teams?". Let me use this space to explain what this concept is:

I have taken 29 of the NBA teams (except Charlotte, who was too new to be ranked), and chosen the best players from each position. That means that players who were never teammates would be, hypothetically, through this.

I have chosen the teams according to what a potential starting lineup would be. That could (and probably will) mean that certain greats on one team are backups, and weaker players on others starters.

Achievements with the team are paramount, obviously, but in cases where the talent pool is weak, and a player with a good career made a cameo on the team, they are included.

I then ranked the teams 1-29 according to how strong (I felt) their lineup was. So, it's not ranked based on titles.

Here are the rankings of the teams:

1. Lakers, 2. Celtics, 3. 76ers, 4. Rockets, 5. Knicks, 6. Bucks, 7. Spurs, 8. Bulls, 9. Hawks, 10. Pistons, 11. Warriors, 12. Suns, 13. Sonics, 14. Nuggets, 15. Kings, 16. Wizards, 17. Blazers, 18. Jazz, 19. Pacers, 20. Nets, 21. Cavaliers, 22. Magic, 23. Hornets, 24. Heat, 25. Mavericks, 26. Clippers, 27. Timberwolves, 28. Raptors, 29. Grizzlies

Now then, we begin the countdown with my #1 ranked team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Here is the lineup:

Starters:

PG: Magic Johnson: If I recently ranked him as the best NBA player ever (certainly open to debate, but still), he has to start here. To run a Cliff's Notes version of his career, he led the Lakers to five NBA titles and nine appearences in the Finals, won three regular season and Finals MVPs, was the all-time assists leader at the time of his first retirement, and helped reignite the NBA in the 1980s. This was the easiest position to pick here.

SG: Kobe Bryant: And now, for the hardest position to rank a starter. Both Bryant and the Logo, Jerry West, would have been great picks. In the end, Kobe wins narrowly (though I have a hunch he would allow West to start if problems arose). The reigning MVP has won multiple socring titles, helped the Lakers reach five NBA Finals, and has won three of them (we won't go into how or why, but he has three rings).

C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Kareem was already on his way to a HOF career when he was acquired by the Lakers in a blockbuster trade in 1975. He added three regular season MVPs to the three he won in Milwaukee (for a record six overall), and helped L.A. to five titles during his 15 years there. He also set the all-time scoring mark as a Laker in 1984. He now currently works for the Lakers as a special assistant.

SF: Elgin Baylor: Baylor's biggest black mark as a player (let's not discuss his tenure with the Clippers) was that he never won an NBA title, but Baylor was a legendary player who was among the first to take it airborne. He won ROY with the Minneapolis Lakers in 1959 and took the upstarts to the Finals that year. He went on to be named first team All-NBA ten times and be an 11-time All-Star. He also set an NBA Finals record (still stands) with 61 points against Boston in game 5 of the 1962 Finals. He helped Minneapolis/L.A. to eight NBA Finals overall.

PF: Wilt Chamberlain: Before you say "He's not a PF!"; there were so many great C's and fewer great PF, that I've included the C's at the PF position. Anyhow, Chamberlain wasn;t the magnificent scoring machine of his prime, but the Lakers didn't need him to be. Chamberlain showed how far he came in 1971-72, when he led the league in rebound and FG% and helped the team win 33 straight games en route to a then-record 69 victories. Overall, he led L.A. to four Finals (winning the 1972 Finals MVP).

Reserves:

PG: Gail Goodrich: Goodrich was the key scorer for the Lakers of the early 1970s, and actually helped his team land Magic when he signed with the New Orleans Jazz in 1976 (the Jazz gave up the pick that L.A. would later use on Earvin). But Goodrich was a solid player in his era. After being a bit player for the Lakers from 1965-68 and then emerging in Phoenix, Goodrich returned to L.A. in 1970, and in the Lakers' brilliant 1972 season, he led the team in PPG (25.9). He went on to average over 20 PPG in four straight seasons.

SG: Jerry West: I kinda alluded to this earlier, but West wasn't called Mr. Clutch for nothing. West personified grace and fire on the court, and was consistently brilliant for the Lakers in the 60s and early 70s. West won the first ever Finals MVP in 1969, and in doing so, is the only player from the losing team to win the award. He also won the scoring title in 1970 (the first year it was awarded on PPG average and not total points). He averaged at least 20 PPG in every season after his rookie year, and led the Lakers to nine NBA Finals and the elusive brass ring in 1972.

C: George Mikan: People today tend to forget Mikan, but in his era, he was the player of the NBA. His star was so big, Madison Square Garden famously put up "Geo Mikan vs Knicks" before one game there. Mikan was the Bill Russell of his day; he won an NBL title with the Chicago Gears, then after joining the Lakers, led them to an NBL title, and after they moved to the BAA/NBA, they won five titles in six years. Mikan won three scoring titles, and was the first player for whom the rules were changed to counter him (they widened the foul lane). That personifies dominance.

SF: James Worthy: Worthy was the spark plug for the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s. His swoops to the rack fired up the Forum crowds and his team, and Worthy always saved his very best for when it mattered the most; the playoffs. Drafted #1 overall in 1982, fresh off an NCAA crown, Worthy missed all of the 1983 playoffs with an injury. The next year, he bursted on the scene, and his zentih occured in 1988, when he won Finals MVP (he also got his only career triple-double in game 7 of that series, with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists). For his career, he averaged 17.6 PPG and 5.1 RPG.

PF: Shaquille O'Neal: For all he has done recently to look foolish, O'Neal did have a great run with Kobe and the Lakers early in this decade. After coming from Orlando as a free agent in 1996, Shaq won his first (and only) league MVP in 2000 after Phil Jackson took over. Shaq also won the scoring title that year (going with one won in Orlando). Shaq was the unstoppable force (unless he took free throws) of those Lakers as they won three straight titles from 2000-02.

Coaches:

Head Coach: Pat Riley: Riles may have sullied his rep a bit in Miami, but as the coach of the Showtime Lakers, Riley was dominant. He won no fewer than 54 games in every full season with the team, won four titles and made eight Finals during his run. He also won COY in his final season there in 1989-90.

Assistants: John Kundla, Phil Jackson: Jackson is pretty obvious; three titles with the Lakers, five Finals berths, and nine overall titles. But Kundla was a great coach with Minneapolis, winning five titles in six years. He also is in the HOF (though it took him nearly 40 years after retiring in 1959 to get there).

Honorable Mentions:

PG Slater Martin: He did win five titles with the Minneapolis team,  but wasn't a key figure despite his HOF selection.

PF Vern Mikkelsen: Another HOFer, and a true PF, but which of the C's can you leave out here?

any Lakers from the 1990s except Shaq and Kobe: They didn't win consistently enough to get here.

There are the Lakers. Tomorrow, I'll unveil their archrivals, the Celtics.