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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In November 2020, weeks after winning the NBA championship, the Lakers sent aging 3-and-D wing Danny Green and Jaden McDaniels, whom they had just taken in the first round of the draft, to the Oklahoma City Thunder for point guard Dennis Schroder. Schroder was entering his eighth season in the league and had established himself as a speedy facilitator who could score and defend, and he had just finished second in the balloting for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
During the 2020-21 season, he averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists a game, but he was nearing the end of his contract, and he left a bad taste in the mouths of some Lakers fans by publicly campaigning for a large contract extension.
Schroder left L.A. as a free agent in 2021 and signed with the Houston Rockets for one year and $5.9 million, which wasn’t exactly what he had in mind in terms of salary. He returned to the Purple and Gold for the 2022-23 season and put up 12.6 points and 4.5 assists per game while playing a key role in their run to the Western Conference finals.
He again departed that offseason, this time to join the Toronto Raptors. This season, Schroder is a member of the Sacramento Kings, and at age 32, he continues to be as productive as he has always been.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 17 — Dennis Schroder