Elgin Baylor - the first Jordan

[lakerevolution]

Elgin Gay Baylor (born September 16, 1934) is an American former basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, appearing in eight NBA Finals. Baylor was a gifted shooter, strong rebounder, and an accomplished passer. Renowned for his acrobatic maneuvers on the court, Baylor regularly dazzled Lakers fans with his trademark hanging jump shots. The No. 1 draft pick in 1958, NBA Rookie of the Year in 1959, 11-time NBA All-Star, and a 10-time member of the All-NBA first team, he is regarded as one of the game's all-time greatest players. In 1977, Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Baylor spent 22 years as general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers. He won the NBA Executive of the Year Award in 2006 before being relieved of his duties shortly before the 2008–09 season began.

His popularity led to appearances on the television series Rowan and Martin's Laugh In in 1968, the Jackson Five's first TV special in 1971 and a Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode, "Olympiad".

[lakerevolution]

Elgin "Rabbit" Baylor had two basketball-playing brothers, Sal and Kermit. After stints at Southwest Boys Club and Brown Jr. High, Baylor was a three-time All-City player in High School. Elgin played his first two years at Phelps Vocational High School in the 1951 and 1952 seasons where he set his first area scoring record of 44 points vs. Cardozo. During his two All-City years at Phelps, he averaged 18.5 and 27.6 points per season. He did not perform well academically and dropped out of school (1952–53) to work in a furniture store and play basketball in the local recreational leagues. Baylor reappeared for the 1954 season playing for the newly-opened Spingarn High School, and the 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), 190 lb (86 kg) senior was named first-team All-Met and won the SSA's Livingstone Trophy as the area's best basketball player for 1954. He finished with a 36.1 average for his eight Interhigh Division II league games. On February 3, 1954, in a game against his old Phelps team, he scored 31 in the first half. Playing with four fouls the entire second half, Baylor scored 32 more points to establish a new DC-area record with 63 points. This broke the point record of 52 that Western's Jim Wexler had set the year before when he broke Rabbit's record of 44.

[lakerevolution]

An inadequate scholastic record kept him out of college until a friend arranged a scholarship at the College of Idaho, where he was expected to play basketball and football. After one season, the school dismissed the head basketball coach and restricted the scholarships. A Seattle car dealer interested Baylor in Seattle University, and Baylor sat out a year to play for Westside Ford, an AAU team in Seattle, while establishing eligibility at Seattle. The Minneapolis Lakers drafted him in the 14th round of the 1956 NBA Draft, but Baylor opted to stay in school instead.

During the 1956–57 season, Baylor averaged 29.7 points per game and 20.3 rebounds per game for Seattle. The next season, Baylor averaged 32.5 points per game and led the Seattle University Chieftains (now known as the Redhawks) to the NCAA championship game, Seattle's only trip to the Final Four, falling to the Kentucky Wildcats. Following his junior season, Baylor was drafted again by the Minneapolis Lakers with the No. 1 pick in the 1958 NBA Draft, and this time he opted to leave school to join them for the 1958–59 NBA season.

Over three collegiate seasons, one at College of Idaho and two at Seattle, Baylor averaged 31.3 points per game and 19.5 rebounds per game. He led the NCAA in rebounds during the 1956–57 season.

Fifty-one years after Baylor left Seattle University, they named its basketball court in honor of him on November 19, 2009. The Redhawks now play on the Elgin Baylor Court in Seattle's KeyArena. The Redhawks also host the annual Elgin Baylor Classic. The College of Idaho has announced that Baylor will be one of the inaugural inductees into the school's Hall of Fame in June 2017.

[lakerevolution]

The Minneapolis Lakers used the No. 1 overall pick in the 1958 NBA draft to select Baylor, then convinced him to skip his senior year at SU and instead join the pro ranks. The team, several years removed from its glory days of George Mikan, was in trouble on the court and at the gate. The year prior to Baylor's arrival, the Lakers finished 19–53 with a squad that was slow, bulky and aging. Baylor, whom the Lakers signed to play for $20,000 per year (equivalent to $180,000 in 2019), was the franchise's last shot at survival.

With his superb athletic talents and all-round game, Baylor was seen as the kind of player who could save a franchise, and he did. According to Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short in a 1971 interview with the Los Angeles Times: "If he had turned me down then, I would have been out of business. The club would have gone bankrupt."

[lakerevolution]

As a rookie in 1958–59, Baylor finished second in the league in scoring (24.9 points per game), third in rebounding (15.0 rebounds per game), and eighth in assists (4.1 assists per game). He registered 55 points in a single game, then the third-highest mark in league history behind Joe Fulks' 63 and Mikan's 61. Baylor won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and led the Lakers from last place the previous year to the NBA finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in the first four-game sweep in finals history. Thus began the greatest rivalry in the history of the NBA. During his career, Baylor helped lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals seven more times.

[lakerevolution]

From the 1960–61 to the 1962–63 seasons, Baylor averaged 34.8, 38.3 and 34.0 points per game, respectively. On November 15 of the 1960–61 season, Baylor set a new NBA scoring record when he scored 71 points in a victory against the New York Knicks, while also grabbing 25 rebounds.[11] In doing so, Baylor had broken his own NBA record of 64 points that he had set in the previous season. Baylor, a United States Army Reservist, was called to active duty during the 1961–62 season, and being stationed in Washington, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass. Despite playing only 48 games during the 1961–62 season, he still managed to score over 1,800 points. Later that season, in a Game Five NBA Finals victory against the Boston Celtics, Baylor grabbed 22 rebounds and set the still-standing NBA record for points in an NBA Finals game with 61.

Baylor began to be hampered by knee problems during the 1963–64 season. The problems culminated in a severe knee injury suffered during the 1965 Western Division playoffs. Baylor, while still a very powerful force, was never quite the same, never again averaging above 30 points per game.

[3Peatkb24]

Great stuff Rev.

[NuggetsCountry]

The Minneapolis Lakers used the No. 1 overall pick in the 1958 NBA draft to select Baylor, then convinced him to skip his senior year at SU and instead join the pro ranks. The team, several years removed from its glory days of George Mikan, was in trouble on the court and at the gate. The year prior to Baylor's arrival, the Lakers finished 19–53 with a squad that was slow, bulky and aging. Baylor, whom the Lakers signed to play for $20,000 per year (equivalent to $180,000 in 2019), was the franchise's last shot at survival.

With his superb athletic talents and all-round game, Baylor was seen as the kind of player who could save a franchise, and he did. According to Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short in a 1971 interview with the Los Angeles Times: "If he had turned me down then, I would have been out of business. The club would have gone bankrupt."

As some of you know, my Dad took me to see Elgin as a rookie in Minneapolis, as I grew up in a suburb of that city. That is when I became a lifelong Lakers fan! Do the math on that longevity - hard to imagine many others around in our fandom for that long.

[3Peatkb24]

Elgin was way ahead of his time and could've been very productive in todays league with his athleticism. Everyone has their greatest players list and he is in my top 20 all-time without even hesitating.

[lakerevolution]

The Minneapolis Lakers used the No. 1 overall pick in the 1958 NBA draft to select Baylor, then convinced him to skip his senior year at SU and instead join the pro ranks. The team, several years removed from its glory days of George Mikan, was in trouble on the court and at the gate. The year prior to Baylor's arrival, the Lakers finished 19–53 with a squad that was slow, bulky and aging. Baylor, whom the Lakers signed to play for $20,000 per year (equivalent to $180,000 in 2019), was the franchise's last shot at survival.

With his superb athletic talents and all-round game, Baylor was seen as the kind of player who could save a franchise, and he did. According to Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short in a 1971 interview with the Los Angeles Times: "If he had turned me down then, I would have been out of business. The club would have gone bankrupt."

As some of you know, my Dad took me to see Elgin as a rookie in Minneapolis, as I grew up in a suburb of that city. That is when I became a lifelong Lakers fan! Do the math on that longevity - hard to imagine many others around in our fandom for that long.

Yes sir!! One thing I have always been humbled by is the knowledge and perspective of the people I've been blogging with about the Lakers franchise. Whether we liked each other's opinions or not, we knew that we all love to be real fans of this franchise. Much like you, Nuggs, I was born and raised in Lakerdom. You the MPLS, and me the LA. There's never been anything else, which is pretty fuckin lucky if you ask me. Most consistently prolific major sports franchise in the last 60+ years. Only the Yanks and the Celts (I think) can boast such prowess. *shout out to my Dodgers*

Go Lakers!

[3Peatkb24]

The Minneapolis Lakers used the No. 1 overall pick in the 1958 NBA draft to select Baylor, then convinced him to skip his senior year at SU and instead join the pro ranks. The team, several years removed from its glory days of George Mikan, was in trouble on the court and at the gate. The year prior to Baylor's arrival, the Lakers finished 19–53 with a squad that was slow, bulky and aging. Baylor, whom the Lakers signed to play for $20,000 per year (equivalent to $180,000 in 2019), was the franchise's last shot at survival.

With his superb athletic talents and all-round game, Baylor was seen as the kind of player who could save a franchise, and he did. According to Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short in a 1971 interview with the Los Angeles Times: "If he had turned me down then, I would have been out of business. The club would have gone bankrupt."

As some of you know, my Dad took me to see Elgin as a rookie in Minneapolis, as I grew up in a suburb of that city. That is when I became a lifelong Lakers fan! Do the math on that longevity - hard to imagine many others around in our fandom for that long.

Yes sir!! One thing I have always been humbled by is the knowledge and perspective of the people I've been blogging with about the Lakers franchise. Whether we liked each other's opinions or not, we knew that we all love to be real fans of this franchise. Much like you, Nuggs, I was born and raised in Lakerdom. You the MPLS, and me the LA. There's never been anything else, which is pretty fuckin lucky if you ask me. Most consistently prolific major sports franchise in the last 60+ years. Only the Yanks and the Celts (I think) can boast such prowess. *shout out to my Dodgers*

Go Lakers!

We have all been lucky to be fans of the teams we have rooted for. Kenny = Lakers (17), Yankees (27), 49ers (5) Championships. You Rev = Lakers (17), Dodgers (6 total counting Brooklyn in 55), and Raiders (3) Championships - same for Craig. Nuggs = Lakers (17) and Yankees (27), Chargers not so much . I have always loved the Lakers since I was a little kid, I thought Kareem was a God and then they drafted Magic so it was easy for me. As a Colts and Cubs fan since the 80's, it has had its ups and downs but I got my Championships with both = 2006 Colts (1), 2016 Cubs (1). We all have chose the right teams to root for, but smart people think alike All my teams have been Champs! Can't ask for anything else.

IMO, eventhough they count, the Celtics have a lot of tainted Championships. From 1957-1965 they won 8 of them only having to win 2 series playing against a bunch short white guys like me - hell I could've played back then and probably could outshoot most of them - not be cocky but true. I guess they count though so it is what it is