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.
As the Lakers approach their 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.
Early in the 1980-81 season, just after Magic Johnson suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for 45 games, the Lakers acquired Eddie Jordan in a trade with the New Jersey Nets. He had been a second-round draft pick in 1977 out of Rutgers University, and he had emerged as a decent point guard with New Jersey by the start of the 1980s.
Jordan remained with the Lakers for a couple more seasons and was a contributor off the bench for them when they won the 1982 NBA championship. During his time with them, he averaged 4.0 points, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 12.5 minutes a game.
Los Angeles then sent him, along with starting point guard Norm Nixon and two future second-round draft picks, to the San Diego Clippers in exchange for center Swen Nater and the rights to No. 4 overall pick Byron Scott in October 1983. It was a significant trade that ensured the team’s Showtime era would extend throughout the rest of the decade and yield a true dynasty.
Jordan was waived by the Clippers and spent part of the 1983-84 season with the Portland Trail Blazers before returning to the Lakers late that season. That campaign would be his final one in the NBA.
He would later become a coach in both the NBA and the NCAA. He was an assistant with the Lakers during the 2012-13 season, and he was the head coach at his alma mater, Rutgers University, from 2013 to 2016.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 5/No. 15 — Eddie Jordan