9 Los Angeles Lakers that never played a single minute
By Tyler Watts
6. Jay Triano
The longtime coach was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the eighth round in 1981, but never saw the floor in an NBA contest. He was cut during training camp and failed to receive another opportunity.
Triano did play for Canada in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, and his most famous on-court moment was leading his country to gold in the 1983 World University Games where they defeated Team USA in the semifinals with Karl Malone and Charles Barkley.
The 6’4 guard played three years of professional basketball abroad before taking over as head coach of his alma mater Simon Frasier. He joined the Raptors coaching staff in 2002 and was their head coach from 2008 to 2011. Triano is currently an assistant with the Sacramento Kings and has two decades of NBA coaching experience.
He also served as head coach of the Canadian National Team from 1998 to 2004 where he led Steve Nash and his country to a seventh-place finish at the 2000 Olympics.
The Los Angeles Lakers won the championship in 1980 and were about to reach the NBA Finals in four straight years. They just did not have room for Jay Triano, but the veteran coach got a shot and will forever be a member of the franchise, even if it was for just a few months.