On March 22, 2021, Los Angeles Lakers legend Elgin Baylor passed away at the age of 86. Baylor spent his entire career with the Lakers on the way to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Despite being a top-tier all-time great with the most storied franchise in NBA history, Baylor’s career is often forgotten. So today, on March 22nd, let’s honor the great number 22 with an overview of his underappreciated career.
Remembering Elgin Baylor
Saving the Franchise
By 1955, the NBA was only eight years old and the Lakers were already collecting jewelry. They had five NBA titles and one NBL title. However, things changed quickly in those days with the league being so young. After the retirement of superstar George Mikan in 1955, the tide turned against Minneapolis. Three consecutive losing seasons brought them to the brink of extinction.
Back in those days, the NBA was not making nearly as much money as now so if a franchise had a bad run it was not going to last long. The Lakers had an abysmal 1958 season as they won just 19 games but it worked out for the best as they managed to acquire Baylor with the first overall pick.
Before the modern draft era, players were allowed to enter the draft but still return to college if they chose. This made it much riskier to attempt to draft players who were not college seniors as there was always the risk the player returns to school, voiding the pick. This exact scenario actually happened to the Lakers in 1956 after Baylor’s freshman season.
Baylor was taken with the 90th overall pick but then opted to stay in school, nulling the draft selection. Had Baylor done this to the Lakers again in 1958, there is a strong chance the franchise would have folded due to how much money they were losing with their garbage roster.
“If he had turned me down then, I would have been out of business. The club would have gone bankrupt”, said former Lakers owner Bob Short.
Elgin Baylor and The Minneapolis years
Baylor was the bridge that connected the Minneapolis and Los Angeles eras of Laker history. His first two seasons were in Minneapolis where he averaged 27.3 points, 15.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. Baylor even managed to lead the ragtag 1959 Lakers squad to the NBA finals. As a rookie! That is unfathomable to think about today. A rookie leading their team from the worst record to the finals? Impossible.
Baylor proceeded to make the All-NBA first team in each of his first two years, something only six other players have ever accomplished.
Moving West
In the 1960 NBA offseason, the Lakers decided to become the first west coast team by moving to sunny Los Angeles as well as drafting future Hall of Famer Jerry West with the second overall pick. Now Baylor and West became the new superstar duo of the league with a unique nickname of “Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside”. Together, West and Baylor would proceed to take the Lakers to seven NBA finals appearances over their next 10 seasons together.
The first three years of Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside proved to be the peak of Baylor’s hall of fame career. In each of these three seasons, Baylor averaged 34 points and 14 rebounds. Baylor managed to do this despite being on active duty for the 1962 season, forcing him to play weekend games only.
Baylor never officially won an NBA championship but in 1962 he came as close as you can without winning. The Lakers took the Boston Celtics to seven games where Baylor averaged 40.6 points per game and 17.9 rebounds per game. This includes an NBA record 61 points in game five. People always mention Michael Jordan‘s 63 points in round one against Boston but conveniently forget Baylor’s 61 in the Finals.
Elgin Baylor’s accomplishments
Baylor finished his career with averages of 27.4 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. He ranks third all-time in points per game and tenth in rebounds per game. Only his former teammate, Wilt Chamberlain ranks higher in both scoring and rebounding. Baylor is also one of 14 players to score 23,000 points and snag 11,000 rebounds. He did this at 6’5 inches tall while 12 of the remaining 13 were at least 6’9. Baylor is also one of ten players with at least ten All-NBA first team awards as well as being one of six players to ever score at least 70 points in an NBA game.
Elgin Baylor was the MJ before MJ, the Dr. J before Dr. J. He was a one-of-a-kind player. Athletic, with great all-around ability and no real weaknesses on the basketball court. The NBA would not be what it is today without the late great Elgin Baylor.
Main Image: Embed from Getty Images
