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.
During the 2014-15 season, the Lakers were seriously in need of talent. Kobe Bryant had returned from two severe injuries, but he was no longer a viable player by any means, and overall, the roster was bereft of viable players.
Late that season, they took a flyer on Vander Blue, an undrafted guard who had scored a total of five points in three games the previous season as a rookie with the Boston Celtics. He had spent most of the 2014-15 campaign to that point with the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers’ NBA Developmental League (now G League) affiliate.
In two games with the Lakers that season, Blue had a total of 22 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals. He spent the following three seasons with the Lakers’ G League team, which was renamed the South Bay Lakers in 2017. He was called up to the big league Lakers for five games in the 2017-18 campaign and scored a total of three points in 45 minutes.
Blue eventually went on to play for a number of foreign basketball teams. He won the Italian Basketball Cup in 2018 and was named the MVP of the tournament while with Fiat Torino, and he currently plays for Ángeles de la Ciudad de México, a pro team in Mexico City.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 12/No. 17 — Vander Blue
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
