On this day in 2003, the Los Angeles Lakers took a crack at assembling a modern-day super team by luring Gary Payton and Karl Malone to Southern California. It didn't work out, but that's not our point here. HOW WEIRD DID THOSE GUYS LOOK IN A LAKERS UNIFORM?
They're certainly not the only players over the years to don a jersey that blows your mind when you look back at it. In honor of this eternal eyesore, here is a look at 10 more recent superstars in uniforms that will never look right.
Allen Iverson with the Memphis Grizzlies
Iverson in anything other than a Philadelphia 76ers uniform is strange, but this is worse than A.I. in a Denver Nuggets or Detroit Pistons jersey. He spent only three games in Memphis before leaving. Maybe he realized this look was never going to work.
Ken Griffey Jr. with the Chicago White Sox
Even though Ken Griffey Jr. spent nine years with the Cincinnati Reds, we can all probably agree that we like to remember him as a Seattle Mariner. We can probably also agree that "The Kid" on the White Sox didn't quite fit.
Reggie White with the Carolina Panthers
Before his onetime teammate Brett Favre became synonymous with "unretiring," The Minister of Defense himself returned to the game for one season with the Carolina Panthers. He started all 16 games and posted a respectable 5.5 sacks in 2000, but like Favre's post-Green Bay Packers stints, White did not dazzle as he did during his record-setting run with the Philadelphia Eagles and in Wisconsin.
Wayne Gretzky with the St. Louis Blues
Wayne Gretzky's hockey accolades will never be matched, and his runs with both the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings cement him as (almost inarguably) the greatest of all time. However, his 18-game stint in St. Louis could have been forgotten by even the most avid fan.
Jerry Rice with the Seattle Seahawks
Speaking of the greatest, you certainly remember Jerry Rice with the San Francisco 49ers, but he also found a way to continue compiling 1,000-yard seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Rice in a Seahawks jersey, though? Yeesh.
Patrick Ewing with the Orlando Magic (and Seattle SuperSonics)
Perhaps the most famous New York Knick in history was let go after the 1999-2000 season, but the big man wasn't done. Naturally, he ended up in Seattle (where he started 79 games) and, finally, Orlando (just four).
Speaking of star big men, Hakeem Olajuwon performing the "Dream Shake" in a Houston Rockets jersey is one of the lasting memories of 1990s basketball that didn't involve Michael Jordan. Olajuwon closing out his career in Raptors purple looks flat-out strange. Johnson spent time with six different teams, which probably becomes easier to manage when you play 22 seasons. It's hard to argue that he looked his most different in an Expos jersey, though, partially because you might have forgotten the Expos even existed. Then there is this photo. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen actually put together some successful seasons for the Wizards and Blazers, respectively. It's just NOT how you like to remember the two of them.Hakeem Olajuwon with the Toronto Raptors
Randy Johnson with the Montreal Expos
Michael and Scottie not with the Chicago Bulls
