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.
Advertisement
We now take a look at Jalen Hood-Schifino, who played a season and change with the Lakers very recently.
Hood-Schifino, a 6-foot-5 guard, played one season in the NCAA at Indiana University and averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists a game while shooting 41.7% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range. The Lakers took him with the No. 17 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, which made some scratch their heads, especially since the team wasn’t in great need of guard help.
He struggled a lot as a rookie and went back and forth between the NBA and the G League. While in the big leagues, he got just 5.2 minutes a game, mostly in garbage time, and had tons of trouble getting any shots to fall, as evidenced by his 22.2% shooting percentage. In 15 games with the South Bay Lakers, he put up 22.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game and shot 47.3% overall and 43.2% from downtown.
On Feb. 1, 2025, Los Angeles traded Hood-Schifino to the Utah Jazz as part of the three-team deal that brought it Luka Doncic. He was waived shortly afterward and signed a two-way contract a few weeks later with the Philadelphia 76ers. With the 76ers dealing with lots of injuries, Hood-Schifino got 23.2 minutes a game of playing time with them, but he didn’t take advantage, as he shot just 37.1% overall and 30.4% from beyond the arc.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 0 — Jalen Hood-Schifino