The Los Angeles Lakers have a total of 506 players playing for them throughout the 2024-25 season, going back to their days in Minneapolis. Some are forgettable, some are serviceable, some are good, and some are downright legendary.
In the 80th season of the Lakers franchise, founded in 1946 as the Detroit Gems, LeBron Wire is taking a look at every player who has worn one of their uniforms, whether it’s the purple and gold or those from their early days in the Midwest.
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Gary Payton became an NBA legend in the 1990s as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics. He established himself as one of the greatest defenders in basketball history as well as a significant scoring threat and strong facilitator, and in doing so, he made Seattle a perennial contender.
But late in his career, the 6-foot-4 guard still didn’t have a championship ring, and in 2003 he signed with the Lakers along with Utah Jazz superstar power forward Karl Malone in hopes of rectifying that problem.
Payton’s numbers dropped significantly in the 2003-04 season as he had to defer to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant while integrating into coach Phil Jackson’s triangle offense. He averaged 14.6 points and 5.5 assists after averaging 18.3 points and 7.4 assists over the previous 13 seasons, and he was frustrated at times with his role.
But he still helped the Lakers bounce back after failing to win a fourth consecutive world championship in 2003. In 2004, they reached the NBA Finals but lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games.
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In the summer of 2004, Payton was traded to the Boston Celtics, and a year later he reunited with O’Neal on the Miami Heat. The two won it all in 2006, and Payton retired after the 2006-07 season.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers Jersey History No. 20 — Gary Payton
