Dwight Jones — 13
- Number retired for Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain‘s prime did not come with the Los Angeles Lakers but he is still a massive part of Lakers’ history and is one of the franchise’s most important players. Chamberlain was the NBA Finals MVP in the only championship that Jerry West won, and while his box score was not as absurd as it was in his earlier years, he was still a dominating force.
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Unlike Goodrich and Wilkes, though, Chamberlain did not get his number retired when he went into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1978 and did not get his number retired for another five years, coming in 1983.
However, Chamberlain kick-started the Lakers’ trend of retiring numbers as he and Elgin Baylor were the first two numbers to get retired by the franchise. Ten days later, West’s number 44 was retired as well.
Players did not wear Baylor’s 22 or West’s 44 after they retired, though. The last player to wear the number 13 for the Los Angeles Lakers was not Chamberlain and instead was Dwight Jones.
Jones appeared in 32 games for the Lakers during the 1982-1983 season and averaged 15.3 minutes per game with 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. While he was a solid role-playing forward in his prime, this was the last year of his NBA career.
Seven months after he last suited up in the regular season for the Los Angeles Lakers the team retired the number for Chamberlain.