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.
During the Lakers’ 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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Don Chaney, a 6-foot-5 guard who was taken by the Boston Celtics with the No. 12 pick in the 1968 NBA Draft, wasn’t a high-scoring player, but he was an excellent defender. He was named to the All-Defensive second team five times and earned two All-Star game selections in his 11 seasons in the league.
He spent his first seven seasons with the Celtics before taking a detour and playing the 1975-76 campaign with the Spirits of St. Louis, a team in the old American Basketball Association (ABA). The Lakers then signed him as a free agent in September 1976. In one season and change with them, he averaged 5.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals a game.
Early in the 1977-78 season, L.A. traded Chaney back to the Celtics, where he remained until he retired in 1980. He immediately became an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, which kicked off a long coaching career for him. In 24 years as a coach, he was the head coach of the Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 12 — Don Chaney