In this ongoing series, we take a trip to yesteryear to highlight Los Angeles Lakers players some fans may have forgotten. These players didn’t get the billing others enjoyed, but they were instrumental to the Lakers’ success.
In 2007, the Lakers were clinging to the fringes of respectability. They had been run out of the gym in consecutive seasons by the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs. Other than Kobe Bryant, they had very little viable talent. Bryant had demanded a trade, and it looked like the beginning of the end for the franchise.
Trevor Ariza was one of the young players who would help it return to greatness that fall. But when he first arrived, he was very much a nondescript player.