3 NBA legends you forgot played for the Los Angeles Lakers

When your franchise has 17 NBA titles, it’s easy to lose track of all the legendary players who have suited up in your jersey.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Wilt Chamberlain. Magic Johnson. Shaquille O’Neal. Kobe Bryant. Heck, even the logo himself — Jerry West — wore the Los Angeles Lakers purple and gold.

All in all, the Lakers have 34 Hall-of-Famers across players, coaches and contributors. Naturally, the ones that won an NBA championship — or several — with the franchise are the ones fans remember most.

Here are three NBA legends you may have forgotten played for the Los Angeles Lakers.

3. Karl Malone

For almost two decades, Karl Malone and John Stockton were synonymous with the Utah Jazz. In many ways, they still are (sorry Spida). While they never won a title, they came oh-so-close twice in the late 1990s, losing in the NBA Finals to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

When Stockton retired in 2003, Malone made a last-ditch effort to win a title, joining Shaq and Kobe in their quest for a fourth Larry O’Brien trophy.

Malone played 42 games for the Lakers in 2003-04, averaging a career-low 13.2 points per game. The Lakers made it all way to the Finals, but it didn’t work out for “The Mailman,” who retired as one of the NBA’s best players to never win it all.

A two-time MVP and 14-time All-Star, Malone remains in second place on the league’s career scoring list with 36,928 points. Just 554 of those were scored during his lone season in Los Angeles, but nonetheless, Karl Malone is on the list of NBA legends who played for the Lakers.