Fred Hetzel’s 30-Year NBA Journey Returns Lakers to Championship Showdown!
A look at Fred Hetzel's time with the Lakers.
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. During the Lakers' 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.
Fred Hetzel, a 6-foot-8 big man, played three years at Davidson College, the same school that would produce Stephen Curry decades later. While there, he won three straight Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year awards. Hetzel was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors with the No.
1 overall pick in 1965, and he played a role in their trip to the 1967 NBA Finals. In 1970, the Lakers brought him for his final season in the NBA. He averaged 4.
8 points and 2. 5 rebounds in 10. 4 minutes a game that season, and he retired with career averages of 11.