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.

As the Lakers approach their 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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Here’s a look back at Sedale Threatt, a guard who played for the Lakers back in the 1990s.

Threatt, a West Virginia Tech University product, was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers in the sixth round of the 1983 NBA Draft, back in the days when the league’s draft lasted for 10 rounds. His pro career unfolded somewhat slowly, but by the 1989-90 season, as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics, he was averaging double figures in scoring.

The Lakers traded for Threatt during the 1991 offseason, just after they lost in the NBA Finals to the Chicago Bulls. Their big problem in that championship series was their lack of viable bench players, especially a viable backup point guard, and Threatt was going to fill that void.

The original plan was for him to spell Magic Johnson and play some minutes alongside Johnson. But when the legend tested HIV-positive just prior to the 1991-92 season and was forced to retire, Threatt was forced to play a major role.

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He became the Lakers’ starting point guard that year and averaged 15.1 points, 7.2 assists and 2.0 steals a game. He was so adept at taking the ball away from opponents that legendary Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn nicknamed him “The Thief.”

Threatt wasn’t exactly Johnson, but he was good enough to barely keep the team above water and get it to the playoffs that season and the season after.

When L.A. drafted Nick Van Exel in 1993, he started to cut into Threatt’s minutes as he emerged. But Threatt still played an important role off the bench for three more years until he was released in 1996 to create salary cap space for the signing of Shaquille O’Neal.

He played one more season in the NBA with the Houston Rockets before spending a season playing pro basketball in Greece.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 3 — Sedale Threatt