Lakers Season Countdown: 23 days, Cedric Ceballos

We're getting ready for a brand new season of Los Angeles Lakers basketball, so to count down the days we'll be looking at the best Lakers to wear the number. We'll continue at 23 days until the regular season begins, with a one-time All-Star who never got to play in the game.

Who wore it the best: Cedric Ceballos

(Credit: National Basketball Association, Getty Images)

Cedric Ceballos came to the Lakers as a free agent in the 1994 offseason. He would lead the Lakers in scoring, at a 21.7 ppg clip, and made his lone All-Star team that year. He was unable to participate due to injury, and is 1 of 4 one-time All-Stars to never play in the All-Star game (the others being Jameer Nelson, Theo Ratliff & Steve Johnson). Cedric appeared to be a key piece to the Lakers rebuilding process in the 1990's, but he was traded to Phoenix during the 1996-97 season.

Ceballos was traded with Rumeal Robinson to the Suns for Robert Horry and Joe Kleine. Before he was traded, Ceballos missed two games, two practices and a morning shootaround after he decided to take his family on a 'spur of the moment' house-boating trip in Arizona. This vacation seemed to create a resentfulness between Ceballos and his teammates, as well as Lakers management. With his production cut in half (21 ppg to 10), the Lakers decided to cut ties with a player who seemed disinterested.

Cedric had two great years with the Lakers, but his greatest memory may be of him being involved in the trade that brought us Robert Horry, a key piece to the Lakers back-to-back-to-back titles in the early 2000's.

Who wore it last: Von Wafer

Von Wafer spent six years in the NBA, one with the LA Lakers. After playing college at Florida State University, Von Wafer was drafted by the Lakers in the 2005 draft with the 9th pick of the 2nd round.

Von Wafer appeared in 16 games for the Lakers, averaging 4.6 minutes in each of those games. His Laker career average ended up being 1.3 points, .5 rebounds & .3 assists per game while shooting an abysmal .158 from the field. The Lakers waived Von Wafer the following year on October 26, 2006 after appearing in only 1 preseason game due to a bruised left knee.

#23 - Who has worn it:

Ed Kalafat (1955-1957)

Boo Ellis (1959)

Jim Barnes (1967-1968)

Stu Lantz (1975-1976)

Lou Hudson (1978-1979)

Tony Jackson (1981)

Jerome Henderson (1986)

Reggie Jordan (1994)

Cedric Ceballos (1995-1997)

Mario Bennett (1998)

Mitch Richmond (2002)

Von Wafer (2006)

Lou Williams (2016 - future)