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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Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t the only center the Lakers brought in for the 1996-97 season. In the 1996 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls took Travis Knight with the No. 29 pick out of the University of Connecticut, and after they waived him, the Lakers signed him.

The seven-footer averaged 4.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 16.3 minutes a game as a rookie with Los Angeles. He spent the following season with the Boston Celtics, but he was traded back to the Lakers just before the 1999 season. This time, he spent two seasons with the Purple and Gold and put up 2.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 9.4 minutes a game during that time while getting an NBA championship ring in 2000.

Knight was then moved to the New York Knicks in September as part of a four-team trade that brought L.A. Horace Grant. He played three more seasons with the Knicks, and he retired afterward with career averages of 3.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in 12.3 minutes per game.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 40 — Travis Knight