How many Jerseys will the Los Angeles Lakers play in during the 2019/20 NBA season?
The Lakers have 4 different official Nike jerseys this season. They include the Association jersey in White, the Icon Jersey in Gold, the Statement jersey in Purple and this year a new City Edition jersey in which is also in Gold.
What is the Lakers Lore Series?
So far, all the City edition jerseys that the Lakers have released have been part or their Lore Series, these are jerseys which celebrate key players for the Lakers Lore.
The first ever Lakers City jersey in 2017 was inspired by Kobe Bryant, came in black and had snakeskin effect to celebrate his Black Mamba persona. Last season they choose to celebrate Magic Johnson with a Purple version which included pinstripes as a nod to his various business achievements. This season the Lakers have chosen to Honour Shaquille O’Neal with their City. The side of the jerseys include the initials M.D.E. As in typical O’Neal bombast he proclaimed himself to be the Most Dominant Ever. There are a few other key differences between this jersey and the rest of the Lakers jersey set for this year. This starts with the Lakers logo across the chest which has a large, purple drop shadow with white lettering. This is a reverse of how the Lakers have traditionally displayed their logo with it historically being Purple letters with a white outline. The jerseys and shorts also have stars displayed down the side panels with the numbers of all the players whose jersey’s hang in the staples centre rafters (This of course includes Shaq himself). There is also a touching tribute to the late Dr Jerry Buss in the inside of the shorts.
Have the Lakers Always played in Gold jerseys?
The Los Angeles Lakers Gold home jerseys are one of the most iconic jerseys in all of team sports, however the team did not always play in gold. When the franchise first started as the Minneapolis Lakers in 1948, their home uniforms were white with powder blue and gold trim, these jerseys had Lakers written across the front. The road uniforms were powder blue with gold trim and had MPLS branded across the front. These jerseys were used as throwback uniforms in the 2001-02 and 2017-18 season.
In 1958-59 the uniforms were tweaked, eliminating gold and replacing the city abbreviation with the team nickname on their road uniforms; the uniform featured four stars surrounding the front of the jersey. The shade of blue used in the home uniforms was changed to royal blue.
In 1960 the team moved to Los Angeles, at first they kept the blue and white scheme, but changed to a cursive ‘Los Angeles’ across the chest. The road Uniforms were royal blue with white and powder blue trim. These uniforms were also used as throwbacks in the 1996-97 and 2003-04 seasons.
The switch to Purple and Gold finally happened in 1967. The team had been purchased by Jack Kent Cooke and he moved the team to the forum. He wanted to stamp his mark on the franchise and so changed the uniforms colour scheme to the now iconic Gold and Purple.
Which Player should I get on a Lakers jersey this year?
The best player on the Lakers is currently LeBron James, and an easy jersey choice. He is after all the leader of the team and 3-time NBA champion. However, if you wanted to make the hipsters choice, Anthony Davis could be the one for you! He has slotted in seamlessly next to LeBron and could be a contender for defensive player of the year come the end of season awards. If you want to go for a Lakers folk hero how about Alex Curuso! This bench player has lit up NBA twitter this year and almost made the all-star team this year.
Who was the best player to wear the Lakers jersey?
The Lakers have one of the richest histories in the NBA, they have won 16 NBA Championships and retired 11 numbers. These include Kobe Bryant twice (Number 8 and 24), Wilt Chamberlain (Number 13), Elgin Baylor (Number 22), Gail Goodrich Jr (Number 25), Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson (Number 32), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (Number 33), Shaquille O’Neal (Number 34), James Worthy (Number 42), Jerry West (Number 44) and Jamal Wilkes (Number 52). Its safe to assume that one day LeBron James will be added to this list at number 23 and perhaps also Anthony Davis at number 3.
With all those players you are totally spoilt for choice when looking at a retro Lakers jersey. However if you were to ask any Lakers fan, I would think the choice would be either Kobe Bryant or Magic Johnson. Both have been proclaimed to be the greatest Lakers ever and both are beloved by the Lakers fan base.