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.
When the Lakers brought in Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant during the summer of 1996, many fans expected the team to instantly start winning championships. In reality, it took the Lakers a while to build a championship-caliber cast, and in the meantime, they had to endure some ugly playoff losses.
During the 1999 season, they knew they needed more 3-point shooting threats to open up the court for O’Neal and Bryant. So they shipped off Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell to the Charlotte Hornets for Glen Rice, B. J. Armstrong and J.R. Reid.
Rice wasn’t just a 3-point specialist — he was a bona fide star who had made the All-Star team in each of the previous three seasons and had a career average of 20.8 points a game to that point. He had once scored 56 points in a game, and it was thought he would form a “big three” with O’Neal and Bryant.
While Rice played well at times with the Lakers, he was coming off elbow surgery, and it eventually became clear that he was on the downside of his career. In two seasons with them, he averaged 16.3 points a game and shot 43% overall and 37.6% from 3-point range, while he had shot 46.3% overall and 40.9% from downtown for his career prior to coming to L.A.
Rice did contribute to L.A. winning the 2000 NBA championship as a starter. Following that season, he was sent to the New York Knicks in a four-team trade, and he retired in 2004 with a career average of 18.3 points per game.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 41 — Glen Rice
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
