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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.
Mitch Kupchak, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound big man, was a star at the University of North Carolina, and he won a gold medal with Team USA during the 1976 Summer Olympics. The Washington Bullets took him with the No. 13 pick in the 1976 NBA Draft, and in his second pro season, he helped the Bullets win the world championship.
The Lakers brought him in during the 1981 offseason as a free agent after getting manhandled by Hall of Fame center Moses Malone in the first round of that spring's playoffs. But early in the 1981-82 season, Kupchak suffered a severe, career-threatening knee injury. He had to watch L.A. win it all that season, and he didn't return to action until the 1983-84 campaign.
At that point, Kupchak became a key reserve off the bench for those Showtime Lakers. On a fast-break team full of slick, elegant athletes, he was a bruiser who wasn't afraid to get physical and ugly. He helped them defeat the Boston Celtics in the 1985 NBA Finals, and in four seasons with them, he averaged 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 15.3 minutes a game.
Kupchak retired after the 1985-86 season and quickly became the Lakers' assistant general manager under Jerry West. He was eventually promoted to general manager, and once West retired in 2000, Kupchak was fully in charge of the team's personnel moves.
After some rocky initial years in that role, especially after Shaquille O'Neal was traded in 2004, Kupchak resurrected L.A.'s Kobe Bryant-powered dynasty and enabled the franchise to win two NBA titles in 2009 and 2010 after it had won three in a row to start the decade. He was fired in 2017 when governor Jeanie Buss cleaned house, and in 2018, he was hired to be the Charlotte Hornets' president of basketball operations and general manager.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 41/No. 25 — Mitch Kupchak
Continue reading...
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.
Mitch Kupchak, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound big man, was a star at the University of North Carolina, and he won a gold medal with Team USA during the 1976 Summer Olympics. The Washington Bullets took him with the No. 13 pick in the 1976 NBA Draft, and in his second pro season, he helped the Bullets win the world championship.
The Lakers brought him in during the 1981 offseason as a free agent after getting manhandled by Hall of Fame center Moses Malone in the first round of that spring's playoffs. But early in the 1981-82 season, Kupchak suffered a severe, career-threatening knee injury. He had to watch L.A. win it all that season, and he didn't return to action until the 1983-84 campaign.
At that point, Kupchak became a key reserve off the bench for those Showtime Lakers. On a fast-break team full of slick, elegant athletes, he was a bruiser who wasn't afraid to get physical and ugly. He helped them defeat the Boston Celtics in the 1985 NBA Finals, and in four seasons with them, he averaged 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 15.3 minutes a game.
Kupchak retired after the 1985-86 season and quickly became the Lakers' assistant general manager under Jerry West. He was eventually promoted to general manager, and once West retired in 2000, Kupchak was fully in charge of the team's personnel moves.
After some rocky initial years in that role, especially after Shaquille O'Neal was traded in 2004, Kupchak resurrected L.A.'s Kobe Bryant-powered dynasty and enabled the franchise to win two NBA titles in 2009 and 2010 after it had won three in a row to start the decade. He was fired in 2017 when governor Jeanie Buss cleaned house, and in 2018, he was hired to be the Charlotte Hornets' president of basketball operations and general manager.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 41/No. 25 — Mitch Kupchak
Continue reading...
