Lakers Fan Favorite Stanley Johnson Is Back In Purple & Gold

He's mostly been a journeyman in his eight-year NBA career—and wasn't in the league at all last season, spending it overseas. But of all of his five stops in North America, there's no doubt that Stanley Johnson connected most with the home fans at Crypto.com Arena while playing his hound dog style for the LA Lakers back in 2021-22.

After spending several months last year with Anadolu Efes of the Turkish League and the EuroLeague, Johnson came back to the US a couple of weeks back for family reasons, with the team granting him temporary leave.

Now Johnson is back in his home city in LA, joining the South Bay Lakers of the G League, back in the familiar Purple & Gold.

Old friend Stanley Johnson is back in the Lakers organization with @SouthBayLakers: pic.twitter.com/55FSeoJbtZ
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) February 10, 2025

The Lakers' G League squad, which plays out of UCLA, acquired Johnson from the Rip City Remix in exchange for the returning player rights to guard Devonte’ Graham, forward Vincent Valerio-Bodon and a 2026 second-round draft pick.

Johnson averaged just 1.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.4 steals per contest in Turkey this season over 17 appearances, averaging less than eight minutes per game.

In 2021-22 with the Lakers, he signed a 10-day deal and immediately provided a huge boost for the team with his energy, two-way play, and hounding defense. He played nearly 23 minutes a night, averaging 6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. He eventually signed three 10-day contracts before the Lakers signed him to a standard two-year deal with a team option in the second year, which they did not, however, pick up.

He played 30 games for the San Antonio Spurs in 2022-23, then disappeared to Turkey last summer.

There's no telling at this point if this is a step back to a bench role with the LA Lakers for Johnson, but there's no doubt he's happy to be back home.