10 Trades That Changed The NBA Forever

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is arguably the greatest NBA player of all time. A 20 year veteran with 19 All-Star appearances, 15x All-NBA, 6 Championships, and is still the all-time career leader in points scored. So what would it take to move a talent like that to a new team? Well, just send a couple rookies, a 22 year old SG, and the Laker's center to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee would never again see the finals. As the 2nd overall pick, Dave Meyers would only play 4 seasons before retiring. 8th pick, Junior Bridgeman would last 9 1/2 seasons as a Buck, averaging 13.6 points/game. Brian Winters spent the rest of his career as a solid 2 guard in Milwaukee. And, Elmore Smith would only last a season and a half with his new team.

After Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West had retired, the Lakers needed to bring in a new superstar. The former Lew Alcindor, who starred at UCLA in the 60's, returned home as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In his first year with the Lakers, he earned his fourth MVP title. Once Magic Johnson was drafted in 1979, Los Angeles became the most dominant team of the '80s.