NBA: Top 5 Players that played for both Celtics & Lakers

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are two of the most successful franchises in NBA history, and by a huge margin too. The Celtics top the charts with 17 championships but the Lakers aren't far behind with 16 of their own. Of 71 possible titles, these two teams account for 33, that's 46.4% of the total.

Now, it's been a while since either of these teams have reached the Finals. In fact, the last time either of these teams went to the NBA Finals, was in 2010, when the Lakers beat the Celtics in seven games. At that time, the two teams accounted for 33 of 64 league titles (51.5%).

The league is in its 72nd year and of the seven decades that have gone by, there's never been one where neither of these franchises have not won a title. Their rivalry is by far the greatest the sport has ever seen, so it's rare for distinguished players to play for both these teams in their career.

Here we rank the top 5 players to don both jerseys, irrespective of the amount of time they spent one of the teams.

Honorable Mention: Brian Shaw

Career Averages:

Celtics - 178 games - 11.1 points, 6.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds

Lakers - 284 games - 4.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists

Of his 13-year career, Brian Shaw spent seven with these prestigious franchises - four with the Lakers (1999-2003) and three with the Celtics (1988-89, 1990-92). Playing with the LA franchise at the beginning of the millennium is what changed Shaw's life. It made him a champion, a 3-time champion as the Lakers won three straight titles from 2000 to 2002.

Although he played a very limited role off the bench for the Lakers, averaging 16.2 minutes (second-lowest in his career), he was the catalyst behind the team's 15-point 4th-quarter comeback in Game 7 of the 2000 Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Most of his career, Shaw was a very serviceable role player in the league. He was a member of the All-Rookie Second Team in 1989 but other than that, Shaw didn't get a lot of recognition. Other than these two teams, Shaw has also played for the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat and the Blazers. He was also a member of the Orlando Magic (1994-97) team, led by Shaquille O'Neal, that made it to their first NBA Finals in 1995.

Shaw is currently part of Luke Walton's coaching staff as an associate head coach for the Lakers. He was previously an assistant head coach for the Lakers from 2004 to 2011. He has also been an associate head coach in Indiana before receiving his first head coaching job in Denver from 2013 to 2015.

#5 Rick Fox

Career Averages:

Celtics - 444 games - 8.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists

Lakers - 486 games - 4.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists

Unlike Shaw, who bounced around, Rick Fox spent all of his 13 years with these two teams - the first six of his career with the C's (1991-1997) and the last seven with the purple and gold (1997-2004). Not only was he teammates with Shaw when the Lakers three-peated but the duo were also Celtics' teammates during Fox's rookie season, where he made the All-Rookie Second Team.

While that's the only recognition he has received, Fox was a factor defensively, especially in the Lakers 15-1 run in the Playoffs en route to the 2001 title. And during that run, he was also a handy three-point shooter, stretching the floor by making 39.3% of his long-range shots.

Here's an interesting note to the end of his career: Fox was traded back to the Celtics after the 2003-04 season, instead the small forward opted to retire.

#4 Gary Payton

Career Averages:

Celtics - 77 games - 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists

Lakers - 82 games - 14.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists

Gary Payton is known more for his 12 seasons with the Seattle Supersonics from 1990 to 2003 before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. However, over the next four seasons from 2003 to 2007, he played on three teams - the Lakers (2003-04), Celtics (2004-05) and the Miami Heat (2005-07).

As you can see, he's done a lot of bouncing around in the fag end of his career but at the end of the day, he got what he wanted - an NBA Championship, which he received with the Heat in 2006. Prior to the that, he had two failed trips to the Finals - in 1996 with the Supersonics and in 2004 with the Lakers.

#3 Bob McAdoo

Career Averages:

Lakers - 224 games - 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists

Celtics - 20 games - 20.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists

The most successful time of Bob McAdoo's career (individually) as a member of the Buffalo Braves (1972-76) and the New York Knicks (1976-79). That success included a league MVP award, a Rookie of the Year award, 3-time scoring champion, 5 All-Star selection and 2 All-NBA selections.

A huge part of his team success - NBA championships - came with the Lakers, where he played the role of 'a super sub' off the bench. He played for the LA franchise from 1981 to 1985, being a part of both their championship teams in the meantime - 1982 and 1985.

Those 20 games he played for the Celtics were a result of a trade. The Knicks had traded him away to Boston, where he didn't seem interested to stay as he moved to Detroit for the next season. From there, he moved to New Jersey before finally finding a reliable spot and role with the Lakers. He ended his career with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1986.

He turned to coaching a few years after his playing career came to an end. Primarily helping the team's big men and studying the opponent's big men, McAdoo was an assistant coach with the Miami Heat from 1995 to 2014.

#2 Don Nelson

Career Averages:

Celtics - 872 games - 11.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists

Lakers - 119 games - 4.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists

Do Nelson could arguably No. 1 on the list of best players-turned-head coaches rankings. The current generation all know about his magnificent coaching - he holds the record for most number of wins as a coach (1,333) - but he was quite a capable player as well.

In his 13 seasons as a player, he spent 11 with the Celtics (1965-76) and two with the Lakers (1963-65). Given the number of years played, it's quite a natural that most of his success came with the C's - five titles (1966, 68, 69, 74, 76) and #19 jersey raised to the rafters.

Note: As a coach, he hasn't coached either of these teams.

#1 Shaquille O'Neal

Career Averages:

Lakers - 514 games - 27.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists

Celtics - 37 games - 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.7 assists

The numbers are probably not required. Almost everybody knows of the success Shaq attained with the Lakers - three titles in three years from 2000 to 2002 and a league MVP in 1999-00. He was the leader of the group along with Kobe Bryant but given his physical dominance on the game, he was named Finals MVP all three times. He joined the Lakers in 1996 as a free agent before being traded to the Heat, where he won another championship in 2006.

After his days in Miami, he played in Phoenix and Cleveland with the Suns and Cavaliers respectively. Still, he hadn't won another title and after Bryant won his fifth title in 2010 (one more than Shaq's total), the Diesel was determined to at least tie the Black Mamba's tally.

In an attempt to win another title, he signed with the Celtics for the 2010-11. In what turned out to be an injury-riddled season for Shaq, Boston were ousted in the second round of the Playoffs by the LeBron James-led Heat.

Edited by Yash Matange