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.
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Myer Upton “Whitey” Skoog, a Minnesota native, starred at the University of Minnesota, where he was a two-time First-team All-Big Ten selection. The Lakers took him with the No. 10 pick in the 1951 NBA Draft, and he spent his entire six-year career in the league with them.
The 5-foot-11 guard averaged 8.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 27 minutes a game for his career, and he won the NBA championship in each of his first three seasons. Some consider Skoog to be the originator of the jump shot.
After retiring from the NBA in 1957, he became the men’s basketball coach at Gustavus Adolphus College, a liberal arts college in Minnesota, from the time his playing career ended until 1981. He also coached golf at the same school from 1973 to 1996.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 20 — Myer Upton ‘Whitey’ Skoog
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