LeBron joins list of notable Los Angeles Lakers free agent signings

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers added to their already impressive haul of historic free-agent signings with with LeBron James.

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most storied franchises in NBA history, with success dating back to professional basketball’s pre-NBA years. From George Mikan to Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers have had no shortage of star power in their 70 seasons.

Sunday, Los Angeles added yet another star to their Tinseltown legacy with LeBron James.

The free agent signing of James is unique for the Lakers in that most of their notable stars have come via trade or draft. Of the superstars mentioned above only one — Shaquille O’Neal — was a free agent signing for the Lakers.

Today we’ll look at the most famous free agent signings in Los Angeles Lakers history, what brought these players to Los Angeles and how they affected the franchise during their tenure.

Shaquille O’Neal

There’s no doubt that the Lakers’ biggest free agent splash before Sunday was the acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal during the 1996 offseason. O’Neal and the Lakers announced their deal on the first full day of the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia with Shaq—then a member of Team USA—holding up a #34 Lakers jersey.

"“Back when Showtime was in Los Angeles, I’d run around the court saying, ‘I’m Norm Nixon, I’m Magic, I’m Kareem, and I want to play for the Lakers,’ Yes, it was a dream.” -(Lakers Get O’Neal In 7-Year Contract – New York Times)"

O’Neal and his former team (Orlando) had a tough negotiating period and despite Shaq always telling the media he preferred to stay in the Florida, the glitz and glamour that came with the Lakers was too much. It’s believe to this day that O’Neal took less money to go to the Lakers, who couldn’t offer nearly as much as other teams and had to scramble in the offseason to open up cap room to get O’Neal. One of those moves was offloading Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for high schooler Kobe Bryant.

It was a good few weeks for the Lakers.

Shaq immediately turned the Lakers’ fortunes around as the team won 56 games during his first season with O’Neal as dominant as ever averaging over 26 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

O’Neal would continue to be a force with the Lakers but the team struggled to get over the hump under head coach Del Harris. FInally when Phil Jackson—fresh off the second of his three-peats in Chicago—came to town, the Lakers would become champions. O’Neal, Bryant and a cast of solid veterans would win three championships in the early 2000s and cement their own legacy in LA.

Jamaal Wilkes

One of the more unheralded players in Lakers history, Wilkes joined the Los Angeles Lakers after three seasons with the Golden State Warriors.

Wilkes’ smooth play and finesse scoring—you don’t get the nickname Silk without having those qualities—fit perfectly with incumbent star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and brought his winning ways (Wilkes had won a championship with Golden State in 1975) to a franchise desperate to get back to the top.

Despite some initial struggles fitting into the Lakers system and working with stars like Kareem and Adrian Dantley, Wilkes finally found his footing becoming the team’s second leading scorer in 1979.

Wilkes’ game (and the Lakers’ fortune) would reach the next level when Magic Johnson came to the town in 1980. Wilkes along with Magic and Kareem led the Lakers to a championship in 1980 and won another in 1982. Wilkes would get one more ring in 1985 but by that time age and a litany injuries had sapped much of his ability.

Kurt Rambis

A cult hero of Lakers fans, Rambis was the antithesis of Wilkes. The smoothness of Wilkes can be juxtaposed to the rough and tumble play of Rambis, who never met a floor he didn’t want to dive onto.

Rambis’ path to the Lakers was rocky. The lanky big man was drafted by the New York Knicks as the 58th pick in the 1980 NBA Draft but immediately waived. Rambis then made his way to the Greek League playing under the name Kyriakos Rambidis. No, seriously.

Rambis was successful in Greece helping his team—AEK Athens—win the Greek Cup in 1981.

Thanks to his success overseas, the Lakers came calling signing Rambis as a free agent. “Rambo” would make his presence felt in his first seven years with the franchise helping win championships in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988.

Where the Showtime Lakers are often regarded for their fast play, slick passing and smooth demonour, Rambis was anything but. Rambis sported a retro pair of black glasses while donning a thick mustache and an out-of-control head of hair. Rambis became the Showtime Lakers defacto dirty work player and he was not afraid to get into tussles with anyone who dared cross his team.

Rambis left the Lakers in 1990 but returned for two uneventful seasons late in his career.

Ron Artest

The future Metta World Peace made his way to Los Angeles in July 2009 after productive seasons in Sacramento and Houston. What made the signing so strange at the time was Artest’s run-ins with current Lakers in the prior year’s Western Conference Semifinals. Artest got into a mini-scuffle with Kobe Bryant as a result of errant elbows and was ejected in Game 3 of the series after a hard foul on Pau Gasol.

Regardless, Artest came to Los Angeles on a five-year deal and made himself at home quickly. The quirky Artest chose jersey number 37. Why 37? Well, that’s the number of weeks Michael Jackson’s Thriller album spent at No.1 on the charts.

Weird or not, the Lakers didn’t care as long as Artest produced. And he did. While Artest’s overall numbers dropped from prior years, as he transitioned into a role player for the Lakers, he was a key cog in Los Angeles returning to the NBA Finals.

In Game 5 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals, Artest hit a game-winning shot as time expired and followed that up with a 25-point Game 6 performance. This was Artest’s first trip to the NBA Finals and the third straight trip for Los Angeles.

In a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals, Artest proved to be a difference maker helping the Lakers beat Boston in seven games. Just as he had done in the Western Conference Finals Artest came up huge when the Lakers needed him most. Artest scored 20 points in the Game 7 victory and hit a huge shot in the game’s waning minutes.

Artest would spend four seasons with the Lakers before being waived with the NBA’s Amnesty Clause. He’d have one more run with the team in his final two NBA seasons but would never replicate the success of his maiden Lakers voyage.

Rick Fox

Rick Fox, fresh off his most-productive season as a Boston Celtic, became a perplexing salary cap casualty as Celtics coach and general manager Rick Pitino scrambled to make space for Tony Massenburg and Travis Knight. One of many deals during Pitino’s tenure that left many NBA observers scratching their heads:

"“But young men dream, and Pitino helps those dreams come true: You, too, could run an NBA team someday.” -(Pity The Celtics With Pitino In Charge – Chicago Tribune)"

Pitino’s trash was the Lakers’ treasure as Fox signed with the Lakers and paid immediate dividends. Fox started all 82 games for Los Angeles and helped them advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Fox became a favorite of new Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, regarded for his ability to defend and score from outside. Fox played a pivotal role in the first NBA Championship for the Jackson-Bryant-Shaq Lakers hitting a crucial three pointer in the fourth quarter of Game 6 to help the Lakers win the title.

Fox would be a major contributor to the Lakers’ next two championships before finally retiring in 2004.

Karl Malone

After 18 seasons as the leader of the Utah Jazz, “The Mailman” shocked the NBA world by taking a $17.7 million pay cut to join up with Bryant, O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers.

There was no question about Malone’s intention. He wanted a ring.

"”That was his desire, to win a ring, in a perfect world he would have won the ring in Utah and retired in Utah. That wasn’t an option. He’s always wanted to play with a dominant big man and now he gets the dominant big man.” – (Dwight Manley, Karl Malone’s agent)"

Malone, who had averaged 20+ points per game over his last 17 seasons, was going to be taking a back seat in Los Angeles, become one of four stars on the team that now included another ring-chaser Gary Payton as well.

Los Angeles immediately back favorites to win the NBA Title and things got off to a great start with the Lakers getting out to a hot start.

Things turned sour for Malone when in late December he suffered a major knee injury. Malone would miss 39 games but the Lakers were still good enough to get the West’s #2 seed.

Malone returned in time for the playoffs and was productive in the first few rounds but age, injuries and intrasquad turmoil became too much for the veteran Lakers. They would fall in the 2004 NBA Finals to the rough and tumble Detroit Pistons led by Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton. Malone gutted through a knee injury to play in games three and four but eventually missed the fifth and final game of the season ending his storied career on a downer.

Gary Payton

Gary Payton joined Malone on his quest for a ring in 2004. Payton had moved on from his original franchise (Seattle SuperSonics) the prior season and spend half the year in Milwaukee after being traded for Ray Allen. Payton, realizing the clock was ticking on his window to win a title, joined with Malone, Bryant and O’Neal to form the NBA’s early 2000s super team.

Payton and the Lakers won 56 games on the season but ultimately were unable to win a championship. Payton, once known for his stout defense, had become a step slower and had trouble adjusting to his role with the Lakers.

In the offseason, Payton was moved to the Celtics and would bounce around a few more times before finally getting his elusive ring as a member of the 2006 Miami Heat. Payton called it a career in 2007.

Magic Johnson

You don’t need me to tell you the story of Lakers legend Magic Johnson. The leader of the Showtime Lakers retired from the NBA before the 1992 season after testing positive for HIV. After years battling the deadly disease, Johnson returned to the NBA and the Lakers in January 1996.

Johnson acclimated himself well despite years away from the game scoring 19 points and dishing out 10 assists in his first game back. Johnson, now playing power forward for the young Lakers team, averaged 14.6 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in his 32 game tenure with the team. Johnson provided a number of emotional moments throughout the season.

Ultimately, Johnson was out of place on the younger Lakers team and clashed with teammates and coaches. An oversized personality, Johnson struggled with his new reality in the NBA and officially called it quits after the season.

Derek Fisher

A key cog in the Lakers three-peat early in the decade, Fisher returned to the Lakers in July 2007 after asking for his release from the Utah Jazz.

Fisher immediately stepped into a starting role with the Lakers helping lead them to the 2008 NBA Finals where they were defeated by the Kevin Garnett, Gary Payton and Ray Allen-led Boston Celtics.

Fisher and the Lakers would get back on track in 2009 defeating Orlando in five games. Fisher was a contributor throughout the playoff run but most notably hit a game-tying three-pointer to send Game 4 into overtime and a tie-breaking shot in the overtime period to help Los Angeles secure a 3-1 series lead.

Fisher would spend another year and a half with the Lakers before moving onto Dallas and Oklahoma City in his career’s final few years. Fisher’s four championships ranks him among the most accomplished Lakers of all-time.

Sam Perkins

Drafted fourth overall in the 1984 NBA Draft—a pick after Michael Jordan and before Charles Barkley—Perkins struggled to meet expectations during his early NBA career. A productive player in Dallas, Perkins’ blend of big man offense and smooth shooting was ahead of its time but ultimately failed to gain him traction as the Mavericks’ leader.

In August 1990, Perkins signed as an unrestricted free agent in Los Angeles joining Magic Johnson and Perkins’ college teammate James Worthy. More than that, Perkins would be leaving a solid but not great Mavericks team for a powerhouse Lakers team that had slipped out of the NBA Finals for the first time in four years.

Perkins helped the Lakers return to the Finals in 1991 but the Lakers fell in five games to the younger, quicker and more dynamic Chicago Bulls. The Bulls were, of course, led by the man drafted the pick prior to Perkins: Michael Jordan.

This would be the final breath of air for the Showtime Lakers. Los Angeles would bow out in the NBA’s first round the next season and Perkins would be shipped off to Seattle in 1993.

Cazzie Russell

One of the members of the famed 1980 NBA champion New York Knicks, Cazzie Russell found individual success as a member of the Golden State Warriors. When he arrived in Golden State for the 1971-72 season, Russell immediately became one of the team’s primary options setting career-highs in scoring and rebounding while making his first All-Star Game.

In 1974, Russell was second only to Rick Barry in Warriors in scoring at 20.5 points per game. The Warriors team success suffered after the team missed the playoff — a true disappointment for a team that made it to the Western Conference Finals the year prior.

In the 1975 offseason, negotiations were tenuous between Russell and the Warriors. The Warriors—scared by a foot injury—refused to offer Russell a no-cut contract. Things finally boiled over and Russell decided to test out free agency.

The Lakers, fresh off their run of their run of 10 NBA Finals appearances in the last 16 years, came calling. Russell maintained his individual success with the Warriors, while he scoring took a dip alongside Gail Goodrich, Jim Price and Lucius Allen, he still managed to score over 15 points per game.

Team success… not so much. The Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time since 1958 and the Warriors, well, they won the NBA Finals.

Russell would remain with the Lakers through the 1977 season and helped that 1976-77 team make it to the Western Conference Finals where they met a dynamo in Bill Walton and the upstart Portland Trail Blazers.

“Jazzy” would play one final season with the Chicago Bulls before retiring in 1978.

Dennis Rodman

Look, this one didn’t work out. At all. On any level. But you have to remember that Dennis Rodman was coming off three straight NBA Finals with the Chicago Bulls and had already cemented himself as one of, if not the, greatest rebounder of all time. “Rodzilla” was the midst of seven straight seasons leading the NBA in rebounding and he was joining a talent-laden Lakers team.

Rodman took time away from the set of “Simon Sez” to sign a contract just before the beginning of the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. Rodman would play just 23 games for Los Angeles and post his lowest rebounding numbers in a decade.

While Rodman at times flashed the tenacious rebounding that made him famous he often clashed with head coach Kurt Rambis and missed numerous games and practices. Ultimately, both sides decided it would be best to part ways and while the Lakers made it to the Western Conference Finals, Rodman played his final game in mid April.