Through the 2024-25 season, the Los Angeles Lakers have had a total of 506 players suit up for them, going back to their days in Minneapolis. Some were forgettable, some were serviceable, some were good and a select few were flat-out legendary.
During the Lakers’ 80th season of existence (they were founded back in 1946 as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League), LeBron Wire is taking a look at each player who has worn their jersey, whether it has been a purple and gold one or the ones they donned back in the Midwest during their early years.
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Midway through the 1996-97 season, the Lakers sent forward Cedric Ceballos, who had once been their No. 1 scoring option but had fallen out of favor since going A.W.O.L. the previous year, to the Phoenix Suns, along with Rumeal Robinson, for Robert Horry. Horry quickly made an impact as a young veteran who had played a key role on the Houston Rockets when they won back-to-back NBA championships.
The Lakers also acquired backup center Joe Kleine in that same deal. He appeared in eight games with them and averaged 0.8 points and 1.1 rebounds in 3.8 minutes a game. Just over a month after arriving in L.A., he was sent packing again when the team traded him along with draft compensation to the New Jersey Nets for George McCloud.
By this time, Kleine was a 12-year veteran who was once the No. 6 pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. He would play three more seasons in the league and retire with career averages of 4.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.2 minutes a game.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 35 — Joe Kleine