Lakers jersey history No. 2 — Lonzo Ball

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.As the Lakers approach their 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.Here's a look back at Lonzo Ball's time with the Lakers.Ball grew up in Chino Hills, which is about an hour east of downtown Los Angeles, and he played one year of college basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Throughout his lone season there, the hype surrounding him slowly grew, and there was a growing anticipation that perhaps the Lakers would draft him.The Lakers did end up taking him with the No.

2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Magic Johnson, who was then their president of basketball operations, was very impressed with Ball and even joked that the incoming rookie could break some of his records.Plenty of people thought Ball would become a superstar and even a Hall of Famer.

The vast majority of that hype emanated from LaVar Ball, his loquacious father, who never missed an opportunity to shamelessly promote himself or the 6-foot-6 guard.

The elder Ball even boasted that the younger Ball was better than Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry when the younger Ball was still in college.The younger Ball never exactly met the hype.

In two seasons with the Lakers, he averaged 10.0 points, 6.4 assists and 6.2 rebounds a game while shooting 38% from the field and 31.5% from 3-point range.

In halfcourt situations, the team seemed to be playing four on five when he was on the court due to his lack of one-on-one skills, poor perimeter shooting and peculiar shot mechanics.He was included in the 2019 trade that brought superstar big man Anthony Davis to town.

The younger Ball ended up fixing his shot mechanics and becoming a potent 3-point shooter, but he has never been able to avoid major injuries.During his time in L.A., he appeared in 99 of a possible 164 games due to multiple injuries, including a sprained ankle that forced him to miss about three months of action.

As a member of the Chicago Bulls, he was expected to miss no more than eight weeks when he tore his meniscus in January 2022, but he didn't return to action until the start of this past season.Most Lakers fans now agree that the team made a mistake by taking the younger Ball in the 2017 draft, when it could've instead chosen Jayson Tatum, De'Aaron Fox or Donovan Mitchell, just to name a few players who have done much better in the pros.This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No.

2 Lonzo Ball.

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