Cotton Nash, a 6-foot-5 guard, was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1964 and played 25 games in his rookie season, averaging 2.1 points. After his time with the Lakers, he transitioned to minor league baseball and later played in the ABA.
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.
In 1964, the Lakers took Cotton Nash in the second round of the NBA draft. The 6-foot-5 guard spent the first half of his rookie season with them and appeared in 25 games while averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.7 minutes a game.
Nash finished his first NBA season with the San Francisco Warriors. He then spent the next two years playing minor league baseball and then played one more year of pro basketball with the American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels during the 1967-68 campaign. He also ended up lasting three years in Major League Baseball with the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins.
Across both the NBA and ABA, Nash averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds and 13.6 minutes a game.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers jersey history No. 33 — Cotton Nash
Cotton Nash averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 25 games with the Lakers during his rookie season.
After the Lakers, Cotton Nash played for the San Francisco Warriors, the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA, and spent three years in Major League Baseball with the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins.
Cotton Nash was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 1964 NBA draft.
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