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.
In the 1970s, Butch Lee was a star player at Marquette University, where he won a national championship and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament in 1977. After four years there, the Atlanta Hawks took him with the No. 10 pick in the 1978 NBA Draft.
Midway through the 1979-80 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers traded him to the Lakers along with a first-round pick in 1982 for Don Ford and a 1980 first-round selection. That trade later became known for netting the Lakers the No. 1 pick in the 1982 draft, which they used to take Hall of Fame forward James Worthy.
Lee appeared in 11 games the rest of the 1979-80 regular season with Los Angeles and totaled 14 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. While he played a total of six minutes during the playoffs, he did pick up an NBA championship ring.
That would be the end of Lee’s NBA career. He later returned to his native Puerto Rico, where he won a Baloncesto Superior Nacional title in 1985, and he would eventually become a successful coach in the same league.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 15 — Butch Lee
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
