My Little Trip Down Memory Lane: The 1999 Lakers Roster
So, the other day, this thought just popped into my head, completely out of the blue. I started wondering, “Hey, who was actually on that 1999 Los Angeles Lakers team?” You know, not the legendary championship squads that everyone remembers by heart, but that specific ’98-’99 season. It felt like a bit of a forgotten year, sandwiched before the big dynasty kicked off.
My first mental image? Shaquille O’Neal, obviously. And a really young Kobe Bryant, just starting to show glimpses of the Mamba he’d become. Those two were gimmes. But after that, things got a little fuzzy. I could picture some jerseys, some vague faces, but nailing down the whole roster? Nah, my brain wasn’t cooperating that easily.
It’s funny how that works. Some teams are burned into your memory, every single role player. Others, especially those transitional ones, kinda blur. That ’99 team felt like one of those – a lot of pieces moving around, just before Phil Jackson showed up and put it all together.
So, I decided to make a little game of it. Before I just typed it into a search bar, I tried to reconstruct it from scratch. Sat there for a bit, really racking my brain. “Okay, Derek Fisher was there, right? And Rick Fox? Or did he join later?” That’s how it goes, you start questioning yourself on details you thought you knew.
After a decent attempt to pull it from the depths of my memory, I finally gave in. Fired up the old laptop, went online, and started my “investigation.” Wasn’t aiming to write a history thesis or anything, just wanted to satisfy that little itch of curiosity. And you know what? It was actually pretty fun to see those names again.
That 1998-99 season was a strange one, if you recall. The lockout meant it was shortened to only 50 games. Del Harris was the coach for most of it, then he got the boot, and Kurt Rambis stepped in as the interim guy. They weren’t exactly setting the world on fire – got swept by the Spurs in the second round of the playoffs. But still, it was the team that was right there, on the cusp.
One of the big things that season was the trade for Glen Rice. That was a pretty major move. If I remember right, Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell went to Charlotte in that deal. So, when I was trying to list them out, I had to remember that shift mid-season.
Anyway, after my little dive into the archives, I thought I’d share who I found rounding out that squad. It’s always interesting to look back. So, here’s the list of guys who wore the purple and gold that year, or at least for a good chunk of it:
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Kobe Bryant
- Glen Rice (came over in that mid-season trade)
- Derek Fisher
- Rick Fox
- Robert Horry
- Derek Harper (the veteran presence)
- Travis Knight
- J.R. Reid
- Ruben Patterson
- Sean Rooks
- Tyronn Lue (yep, future coach Ty Lue!)
- Sam Jacobson
- Bimbo Coles (He was there for a part of the season, then got traded to the Warriors in February ’99. These mid-season deals always make remembering exact year-end rosters tricky!)
It’s always a good time looking back at these old rosters. You remember the big names, sure, but then you see some of the other guys and it all comes flooding back. Just a little piece of basketball history I felt like digging up and sharing. Hope you enjoyed this little walk down memory lane as much as I did putting it together!
