What is a "Laker" as in the L.A. Lakers?

Before they moved to LA they were the Minneapolis Lakers (coming from Minnesota, being the land of a thousand lakes.)

The Los Angeles Lakers history -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Los_Angeles_Lakers

The Lakers have come full circle. Although the team has come thousands of miles, won many championships and morphed into many different forms, the Lakers that won the title in 2000 are remarkably similar to the team that started it all back in Minnesota. Many people wonder how a basketball team from southern California got a nickname like Lakers. The franchise actually was nicknamed the Lakers in its days in Minneapolis, and decided to keep the name when it moved to LA.

When the Detroit Gems moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, the new owners changed the name to Minneapolis Lakers. What does Lakers mean? There's not much solid data about the origin of the name. The NBA's website lately says it is in reference to the "The Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's nickname, But other version indicates that it makes reference to the name of a type of cargo ship used on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.
http://www.lakersuniverse.com/history.htm

They were the Minneapolis Lakers originally. There are many lakes in Minnesota. When they moved to L.A. they kept the name because they liked the sound of it.

http://stewthornley.net/mplslakers.html