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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In 1972, the Lakers took Jim Price, a point guard out of the University of Louisville, in the second round of the NBA draft. He played for the Lakers until they traded him midway through the 1974-75 season, and he averaged 15.4 points a game during the 1973-74 campaign and 21.2 points and 7.0 assists a game as a Laker the following season.
Price bounced around the league in the ensuing years, spending time with the Milwaukee Bucks, Buffalo Braves, Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons. He returned to the Lakers for the 1978-79 season, his final one in the NBA, and registered 5.3 points and 2.9 assists in 16.1 minutes a game.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 15/No. 5 — Jim Price