Los Angeles Lakers: 3 greatest players with two stints in LA
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers were forced to pursue various minimum players after the team traded for superstar Russell Westbrook. The Lakers were already restricted financially and restricted themselves further while also flipping three role players for one player in the rotation.
That being said, Rob Pelinka did an excellent job of building a deep roster that can contend for an NBA Championship. The roster is old, sure, but it currently has 13 legitimate rotation players that can play a role.
Typically teams will have non-impactful players (think Jared Dudley) after that 10th or 11th roster spot. The Lakers have 13 and will likely make it 14 before the season. Those few extra players can make a huge difference with the fitness of the team for the playoffs.
Whether by design or not, Pelinka brought back several players who previously played for the Lakers. Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore and Trevor Ariza all previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers and are hoping that their second (or third) stints can be impactful.
There are some great examples of players having two stints with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers are the most prestigious team in the NBA and there is a massively long laundry list of superstars that have donned the purple and gold. Some players loved it so much that they had to wear it twice.
There are three excellent examples of players who had two different stints with the Lakers and made the most of them. And for simplicity’s sake, we are drawing a boundary. The player had to play a full season in their second stint (so no Vlade Divac) and had to play for another team in-between (Magic Johnson’s return does not count).
Without further ado, let’s get into the three best players who had two stints on the Los Angeles Lakers.