The Los Angeles Lakers are arguably the most iconic team in the history of the NBA, and that means there are a lot of legendary players who have established themselves as franchise icons. When you think about the Lakers, you think about players like Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, or Jerry West, all players who played their entire careers in LA.
Bryant played a franchise-leading 48,637 minutes in the purple and gold. Kareem Abdul-Jabar (37,492) and West (36,571) were second and third in all-time minutes played for the Lakers. Elgin Baylor played 33,863 minutes for the Lakers, while Johnson was on the court for 33,245 minutes.
While basketball fans saw plenty of on-court action from these superstars, here are the 10 Lakers who played the least amount of minutes for the franchise.
10. Derrick Williams: 9 total minutes played
The Minnesota Timberwolves made Derrick Williams the number two overall selection in the 2011 NBA draft. The power forward enjoyed a seven-year NBA career that ended in Los Angeles. After signing a 10-day contract, the former highly touted prospect scored two points in his nine minutes of action over two games.
Williams has played for five different teams overseas since his exit from the NBA and was recently released from the Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.
9. Jim Fritsche: 8 total minutes played
The Lakers didn't relocate to Los Angeles until 1960. Before that, the team played in Minneapolis. Brown is one of two members of this list to play for the Lakers when they lived in the land of 10,000 lakes. Fritsche connected on 1-4 of his free throw attempts for the Lakers in his eight minutes of court time. Fritsche went to high school in Minnesota and went to Hamline University in St. Paul before the Minneapolis Lakers kept him home and drafted him seventh overall in 1953.
8. Walt Wesley: 7 total minutes played
During his peak, Walt Wesley was a bucket. He scored 17.7 in 1970-71 for the Cleveland Cavaliers. While he only played in one game to end his career with the Lakers, Wesley showed he was more than capable of scoring in bunches. In only seven minutes, Wesley was able to score four points. Wesley's number 13 jersey is retired by the Kansas Jayhawks.
7. Earl Jones: 7 total minutes played
In two games for the 1984-85 Lakers, Earl Jones' only recorded stat was a turnover. Jones was a first-round pick by the Lakers, but injuries cut his rookie season short, and he was soon thereafter traded from the organization. Jones was an NCAA Division 2 champion and did win a NBA finals ring in his season with the Showtime Lakers.
6. George Brown: 6 total minutes played
Brown is another member of this list to play for the Lakers when they were located in Minneapolis. Brown recorded one point, one rebound, and one personal foul in his only game for the Lakers. After his release from the Lakers, Brown went on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.
5. Darius Johnson-Odom: 6 total minutes played
Darius Johnson-Odom's career started in 2012 as Dallas Mavericks' draft pick. He played his first professional season with the Lakes after being traded on draft night for cash. Johnson-Odom was 0-4 for the Lakers, but he was an animal on the boards, collecting four rebounds in his limited time. While he did miss all 11 of his NBA field goal attempts, Johnson-Odom has enjoyed a successful career overseas. He is currently playing for Rapid Bucuresti in Romania.
4. Roger Brown: 5 total minutes played
Roger Brown was one of three Lakers who only played in five minutes for the team. Brown started his career in Los Angeles but only played in one game before moving on to play for the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association. Brown was only 1-3 from the free throw line for the Lakers, but he eventually went on to become an ABA All-Star in 1976 for the Denver Nuggets.
3. Lester Conner: 5 total minutes played
A former 14th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in 1982, Conner ended his career in Los Angeles over a decade later. Conner received five combined minutes of action between two contests before leaving the NBA. He scored two total points for the Lakers, well shy of his career-high 11.1 points per game during his sophomore season in Golden State.
2. Zach Norvell Jr.: 5 total minutes played
The most recent Laker to play five minutes, Norvell played one NBA season (2019-20), with his time split between the Lakers and the Warriors. Nicknamed ‘Snacks,' Norvell recorded one rebound and one field goal attempt for Los Angeles.
1. Jerome Henderson: 3 total minutes played
The winner of this not so glamorous Lakers' statistic is Jerome Henderson. The 6-foot 11-inch big man only appeared in seven total games throughout his two-year NBA career in the mid-'80s, and only one of those games was for the Lakers. On March 11, 1986, Henderson saw three minutes of action. He took full advantage of his opportunity, scoring four points in his limited action, which equates to 48 points per 36 minutes.
The University of New Mexico alum was all over the place as he also grabbed a rebound a committed a personal foul.
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