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.
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In 1979, the Lakers drafted a Michigan State University sophomore named Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who would fill quite a few needs for them. But they still needed help at the power forward position — badly. They had tried to get by with Jamaal Wilkes playing that position, but at 6-foot-6, he was ill-suited to battle the NBA’s big, rugged forwards.
Just before the start of the 1979-80 season, Los Angeles acquired Jim Chones in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had actually been drafted by the Lakers in 1973, but he was instead sent to Cleveland prior to his NBA debut.
Chones was a prototypical old-school power forward at 6-foot-11 and 220 pounds. He averaged 10.7 points and 7.4 rebounds a game in two seasons with the Lakers, and he helped them win the 1980 NBA championship over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Los Angeles signed big man Mitch Kupchak as a free agent in 1981, and under league rules at the time, it had to compensate Kupchak’s former team, the Washington Bullets. To fulfill that requirement, L.A. sent Chones, Brad Holland, a second-round pick in 1982 and a first-round pick in 1983.
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Chones would play one season with Washington to wrap up his NBA career. He later became an analyst for television and radio broadcasts of Cavaliers games.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 9 — Jim Chones