12-08-2025
Lakers jersey history No. 3 — Jay Vincent
Through the 2024-25 season, the Los Angeles Lakers have had a total of 506 players suit up for them, going back to their days in Minneapolis. Some were forgettable, some were serviceable, some were good and a select few were flat-out legendary.
As the Lakers approach their 80th season of existence (they were founded back in 1946 as the Detroit Gems in the National Basketball League), LeBron Wire is taking a look at each player who has worn their jersey, whether it has been a purple and gold one or the ones they donned back in the Midwest during their early years.
We now take a look at Jay Vincent, a forward who once had a brief stint with the Lakers.
Vincent grew up in Michigan, and he played four years of college basketball at Michigan State University, where he won a national championship in 1979. While there, the 6-foot-7 forward had the good fortune of being teammates with Magic Johnson.
Johnson got drafted by the Lakers in 1979, while Vincent played two more years for the Spartans and led the Big Ten in scoring during both seasons. The Dallas Mavericks took him with the No. 24 overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft.
Vincent averaged 21.4 points and 7.0 rebounds a game as a rookie, and over the next several seasons, he continued to be a reliable scorer, whether he was in the starting lineup or came off the bench. After bouncing around from team to team later in the 1980s, the Lakers signed him as a free agent early in the 1989-90 season.
It was something of a transition season for the Lakers, as their dynasty was starting to fade. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had retired the previous June, and veterans such as Michael Cooper and Mychal Thompson were starting to show their age. Vincent got little playing time with L.A., but he did average 3.8 points in 8.3 minutes a game while appearing in 24 contests.
Following that season, Vincent played overseas for a few years. Unfortunately, in 2010, he was indicted on mail fraud charges after a company he owned allegedly scammed roughly 20,000 people out of over $2 million. He ended up getting sentenced to five and a half years in prison.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 3 — Jay Vincent
