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.
Sun Yue was a 6-foot-9 shooting guard who started playing for the Beijing Olympians of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2002 at the age of 17. The Lakers took him in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft, and he hoped to follow in the footsteps of Yao Ming as a successful Chinese import in the league.
He ultimately played in 10 games with the Lakers, with all of them coming during the 2008-09 season, and he scored a total of six points in 28 minutes of playing time. Afterward, he was assigned to the Lakers’ affiliate in the NBA Developmental League (now the G League).
Yue wasn’t added to the Lakers’ playoff roster in 2009, but he still received an NBA championship ring from the organization.
Afterward, he returned to China to play for the Olympians, who had moved into the American Basketball Association in 2005. He would go back to the Chinese Basketball Association in 2013 to play for the Beijing Ducks and won league championships in 2014 and 2015. Yue then closed out his pro basketball career by spending two years with the Beijing Royal Fighters, another Chinese Basketball Association squad.