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 embark on 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 his early years in the NBA, Bob McAdoo was one of the game’s best players. At 6-foot-9, he could play both the power forward and center positions, and after entering the league as the No. 2 pick in the 1972 draft by the Buffalo Braves, he won three straight scoring titles and was named the MVP of the 1974-75 campaign.

But by the end of the 1970s, he started bouncing around from team to team and was accused of being a malcontent. As the 1981-82 season began, it looked like McAdoo’s career was hanging by a thread.

That Christmas Eve, the Lakers acquired his rights from the New Jersey Nets. They had recently lost big man Mitch Kupchak for the season to a gruesome knee injury, and McAdoo showed a willingness to come off the bench and give them not only scoring but also rebounding and defense.

He averaged 9.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 18.2 minutes a game that season, and he was a key reason L.A. won the NBA championship that year. He remained with the team for four years and earned another championship ring in 1985 when it defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals for the first time.

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McAdoo finished his NBA career during the 1985-86 season with the Philadelphia 76ers, and he ended with career averages of 22.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game. He went on to have a successful pro basketball career in Italy following his retirement from the NBA, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.

In 1995, he began a long stint as an assistant coach for the Miami Heat, a role that reunited him with Pat Riley, his head coach during his time with the Lakers.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 11 — Bob McAdoo