15 stars you might have forgot played for the Los Angeles Lakers
By Amaar Burton
2. Mitch Richmond (2001-02)
Hall of Fame shooting guard Mitch Richmond had shined all over the state of California and should’ve been very familiar to Lakers fans by the time he joined the squad in 2001.
Richmond’s heyday was with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, a 10-year stretch in which he averaged 23.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. “The Rock” was a six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection. There were plenty of nights when he lit up the Los Angeles Lakers — albeit for overmatched Sacramento squads, and Golden State teams that just weren’t good enough to sink the Magic-led Lakers.
When Richmond joined the Lakers, he was 36 years old. In what would be his NBA finale, he came off the bench for just 11.1 minutes per game, averaging 4.1 points per game.
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Richmond did accomplish what he came to L.A. to do, however, winning a championship with the third of the Shaq-and-Kobe three-peat Lakers teams.
The final exclamation points of that championship were written by Richmond. He scored L.A.’s last basket in their sweep-clinching Finals Game 4 win over the New Jersey Nets, then dribbled out the clock to finish the series and his career.