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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On draft day 2019, the Lakers sent a 2020 second-round draft pick and cash to the Orlando Magic for the rights to guard Talen Horton-Tucker out of Iowa State University. He had one fairly pedestrian season with the Cyclones, and he barely played as a rookie with the Lakers while they won the NBA championship.
During his second season, coach Frank Vogel gradually gave Horton-Tucker more playing time, and the guard started to respond. He averaged 9.0 points and 2.8 assists in 20.1 minutes a game that year, and he showed an uncanny ability to slash off the dribble to the hoop.
The Lakers apparently had to choose whether to pay Horton-Tucker or fan favorite and standout defender Alex Caruso during the summer of 2021. In what quickly became a controversial move, they let Caruso leave and gave Horton-Tucker a three-year deal for nearly $31 million. Horton-Tucker showed no improvement during the 2021-22 campaign, and during the 2022 offseason, he was traded, along with forward Stanley Johnson, to the Utah Jazz for veteran guard Patrick Beverley.
Since then, his playing time has decreased, and he hasn’t tapped into any more of the potential he displayed during his early days with the Lakers. It is beyond obvious that the Purple and Gold chose the wrong guard to give a new contract to during the 2021 offseason.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 5 — Talen Horton-Tucker