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 1975, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wasn't the only newcomer to the Lakers. In the sixth round of that year's NBA draft, they took Don Ford, a 6-foot-9 power forward who had just averaged 19.6 points and 8.4 rebounds a game the previous season at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Ford spent four and a half seasons with the Lakers and averaged 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 20.9 minutes a game. Early in the 1979-80 season, he was sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with a 1980 first-round draft pick for Butch Lee and a 1982 first-rounder.
That trade turned out to be a monumental one in Lakers history. The 1982 draft pick they acquired in the deal ended up being the No. 1 overall selection, and they used it on a 6-foot-9 forward from the University of North Carolina named James Worthy. Worthy fit in seamlessly and allowed Los Angeles to go from a great team that won two of the first three NBA championships of the 1980s to a true dynasty and perhaps the greatest team in league history.
Ford, meanwhile, remained in Cleveland through the 1981-82 season, which was his last in the NBA. He ended up with career league averages of 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.6 minutes a game.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 35 — Don Ford
