Derrick Caracter (58th overall) and Devin Ebanks, (43rd overall) the Lakers' two sophomore players chosen in the 2010 draft, haven't had a lot to do in their time with the team. While hopes were high last season that they might develop into decent backups (Caracter at center, Ebanks at SF), that hasn't really happened. While both played well in the Summer League games leading up to the 2010-2011 season, neither was able to do the same in pro play, although Ebanks has shown more promise this year, even grabbing the starting spot from Matt Barnes to open the season against the Bulls. Of course last season wasn't necessarily their fault. The Lakers were on a mission to win their third consecutive championship, and it has never been easy for a rookie to crack Phil Jackson's rotation. With so little visibility, there wasn't much of an opportunity to learn anything about them. In fact, there still isn't, but here are a few tidbits.

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"Some people own sports franchises more as a business, a steppingstone to fame. But I own it mainly because I love it. It's a corny line, but they say, "When you bleed, you bleed for blue and gold." I was a Laker fan a long time before I was fortunate enough to own them. I have owned them for 27 years and I truly have loved every moment of it...I went into it because I love the Lakers and when you love the Lakers, you want them to win so badly that you will work tirelessly ... tirelessly to make that happen, and essentially I think that's how we have been so successful." - Jerry Buss in 2006

via media.masslive.com

Jerry Buss, enigmatic owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, is a pretty simple man. He's a doctor who doesn't practice, a former real-estate tycoon with no real property, a multimillionaire who doesn't flash his cash. He runs the ultimate family business and all but one of his six children are involved in some way.

But what do we know about Jerry Buss?

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Scottie Pippen pounding that stack of towels will never get old.

On Wednesday I mentioned how a weird trade two years earlier led to the Lakers' selection of James Worthy in the 1982 draft. Now the new site NBATradetracker.net has a video breakdown of how various little trades, twists and turns led to the Lakers' pick of Magic Johnson in 1979. It's just awesome and if you don't watch it right this second, I don't know if we can hang anymore.

H/T Ball Don't Lie.

It has returned. It was gone but now it's back. My occasional series about jersey numbers and the Lakers who done wore ‘em kicked off almost a year ago. I've no good excuse for why I'm only now getting around to the forties, but luckily jersey numbers don't change all that fast so despite my slothlike pace, I don't need to revise any of my prior picks. If you'd like to review what those were, and only a fool wouldn't, my piece on single-digit jerseys can be found here. Part two covered the teens, part three the twenties and part four the thirties. Since then the anticipation has been... building? Sure, why not. I'm going to pretend this is how George R.R. Martin felt when he was about to release A Dance With Dragons.

So, the forties. Or as I like to think of them, the Land of the Random Power Forwards. There actually haven't been too many Lakers who've worn a 40-something jersey. The franchise existed for 11 years before a guy named Chuck Share (number 44) became the first. Three jersey numbers in this range (46, 47 and 48) have never been worn by anyone, and only 32 Lakers total belong to this elite brotherhood. I hope Derrick Caracter (number 45) understands what a rare privilege the team has bestowed on him.

To the picks, y'all.

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via media.charlotteobserver.com

On Wednesday, June 1, Shaquille O'Neal announced his retirement via Twitter. And unconventional announcement for an unconventional man. Love him or hate him, Shaq is a Los Angeles Lakers legend. He was huge, larger than life, in fact, and a huge part of recent Lakers history, some good and some bad. As Dex's story over on SBNLA tells you, the Lakers wouldn't be what they are today had Shaq not come to Los Angeles in 1996. But there is more to him than basketball. As public a figure as Shaq is, there is still a lot many people don't know.

Shaq, this is your life.

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One of the greatest Lakers of all time is calling it a career. The man spent eight of his 19 seasons with the Lakers. While in Los Angeles he was first team All-NBA six times, league MVP once and Finals MVP three times. His decision to leave Orlando for the Lakers in the summer of 1996 jump-started the revitalization of the franchise in the post-Magic Johnson era. He gave us more than a few headaches - what with his at times subpar conditioning, his cold war with Kobe Bryant, his regrettable movie and rap "careers" and the extravagant salary demands that ultimately led to his trade to Miami in 2004. But make no mistake, the enjoyment he brought Laker fans far, far outweighed his imperfections, annoying as they often were. There should be no doubt but that his jersey will hang in Staples Center sometime soon.

Consider this your Shaq retirement open thread.

Game Seven of the 2000 Western Conference Finals is one of the most revered moments in recent Laker history. But equally important in that series was Game Three, which took place up in the Rose Garden on May 26 of that year. The Lakers had been blown out in Game Two at Staples and needed a road win to recapture home-court advantage. They got it, but just barely and not before falling behind 15 to 2. If you have 10 minutes to burn and want to get warmed up for the Lakers' return to Portland tonight, I recommend giving this highlight reel a spin. The boxscore from this game can be found heah.

A few fun moments to look out for:

4:25 - Enter the Shawfather.

5:22 - Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy, in reference to Phil Jackson: "He's probably chewing out Kobe for going on-on-one too much." You know, some things really never change.

5:33 - Check out Phil with the classic Zen Master facial hair.

6:31 - Chick.

10:09 - Scottie Pippen HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. One of you nerds needs to whip up a .gif of that scene. I'm begging you.

Follow Dex on Twitter @dexterfishmore.