![]() Only four men have ever surpassed the 71-point mark in an NBA game. His 71-point effort in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks in 1960 was briefly the record for a single-game scoring mark by any player before Chamberlain would took it a year later. “His many accolades speak to that.”īaylor – who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977 – authored some of the best scoring games in NBA history. “Elgin was THE superstar of his era,” team owner Jeanie Buss said in the team statement. fall in love with pro hoops long before the most well-known dynasties followed suit. In his autobiography Hang Time: My Life in Basketball, Baylor remembered his tenure with the Lakers as “Showtime 1.0,” a high-scoring, high-tempo team featuring him, West and Gail Goodrich that first made L.A. When the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1960, after campaigning off the back of trucks to bring in an audience, he filled the L.A. In Minneapolis, he might have saved team owner Bob Short from going under. Hall of Fame broadcaster Chick Hearn – who called nearly 40 years of Lakers games – once identified him as the best player he ever saw. In a time before significant television brought Lakers basketball to most homes in America (which is why so little of his play was ever captured on film), those who saw Baylor play live had the utmost reverence for his athletic brilliance. He’s still the NBA’s 31st all-time leading scorer, despite playing the entirety of his career before the 3-point line was established. ![]() ![]() While history has sometimes lost him to a crowded field of stars in the time, including Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, in his day, Baylor could hold his own against any of them. 1 overall in 1958 when he emerged as a junior, he was an immediate splash into the then-fledgling NBA where he won Rookie of the Year and would go on to become an 11-time All-Star and 10-time first-team All-NBA selection. Baylor played through foul trouble and a cracked rib in the loss and was still voted Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.Īfter the Minneapolis Lakers drafted him No. He was a prep star in the District before becoming a two-time All-American at Seattle University, where he guided the school to its first NCAA championship game in 1958, falling to Kentucky. “And like everyone else, I was in awe of his immense courage, dignity and the time he gave to all fans.”īaylor was born in Washington, D.C. “Elgin was the love of my life and my best friend,” Elaine Baylor said in the Lakers’ statement. The Lakers said his wife, Elaine Baylor, and their daughter together, Krystal, were present when he died. NBA commissioner Adam Silver pointed out Baylor’s role in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s in a statement that said he “set the course for the modern NBA.” A man who was inevitably described as underappreciated both in his time and after he retired, Baylor was also regarded for his grace and humanity, as well as a rigid backbone when facing the racism of his era. He would go on to become the coach of the then-New Orleans Jazz and a longtime executive with the Los Angeles Clippers. He went to eight NBA Finals without hoisting up the trophy at the finish, inevitably crashing against the dominant Boston Celtics of the era in seven of those series. In a franchise that prides itself on minting champions, Baylor built the franchise to the level where it could contend but retired in 1971 before the Lakers won their first championship in L.A. “Thank God this day is here,” former teammate Jerry West said at the time.
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