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15 stars you might have forgot played for the Los Angeles Lakers

By Amaar Burton

FILE: Dennis Rodman of the Los Angeles Lakers with his head down during a National Basketball Association game at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Matt A. Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
FILE: Dennis Rodman of the Los Angeles Lakers with his head down during a National Basketball Association game at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Matt A. Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

6. Zelmo Beaty (1974-75)

Zelmo Beaty didn’t get his Hall of Fame call until 2016, three years after he’d passed away.

The posthumous honor was long overdue for the 6’9″ big man who was a two-time NBA All-Star and three-time ABA All-Star, a two-time All-ABA pick , and the best player on the 1971 ABA champion Utah Stars.

The original “Big Z” (not Zydrunas Ilgauskas), Beaty was a consistent 20-and-10 producer for the Hawks in the NBA.

He then forfeited a full season during his prime when he left for the ABA — imagine an antiquated version of the NCAA transfer rule forcing an athlete to sit out — but when he arrived in the ABA, he was immediately a star.

Beaty averaged 22.9 points and 15.7 rebounds per game in 1970-71, leading the ABA in field goal shooting (55.5 percent) and leading the Stars to a championship while winning postseason MVP.

Related Story. 10 best power forwards in Lakers history. light

After four seasons in the ABA, Beaty returned to the NBA with the Lakers. The franchise was still recovering from the end of the Chamberlain-West-Baylor era, and would finish Beaty’s only season with them 30-52.

Beaty turned 35 years old a few days after the season began. He averaged 5.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in what would be his final year of pro basketball.

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