New York Knicks’ Dave DeBusschere winces as he and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Elgin Baylor collide in the first interval of a sport at New York’s Madison Square Garden on April 24, 1970. Observed Oscar Robertson, a up to date of Baylor’s and himself no stranger to NBA stardom, “As a shooter, as a dribbler, Elgin Baylor had no match. The greatest sport I ever noticed was a Los Angeles playoff recreation in Boston when the Celtics double-teamed Elgin and Jerry West, and Elgin still scored about 60 points.” Sixty-one, really.
Baylor was the last of the nice undersized forwards in a league the place many guards are now his dimension or bigger. He completed his enjoying days with 23,149 factors, three,650 assists and eleven,463 rebounds over 846 video games. His signature operating bank shot, which he was able to launch quickly and effectively over taller players, led him to quite a few NBA scoring records, a number of of which nonetheless stand. As a rookie in 1958–fifty nine, Baylor finished second in the league in scoring (24.9 points per recreation), third in rebounding (15.zero rebounds per sport), and eighth in assists (four.1 assists per recreation). He registered fifty five points in a single game, then the third-highest mark in league historical past behind Joe Fulks’ sixty three and Mikan’s 61. Baylor received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and led the Lakers from final place the earlier yr to the NBA finals, the place they misplaced to the Boston Celtics in the first 4-sport sweep in finals history.
Baylor
Not bad for a player who didn’t start enjoying basketball until he was 14-years old. Born September 14, 1934 in Washington, D.C., Baylor performed one collegiate season on the College of Idaho before transferring to Seattle U to compete both the and seasons. He led the 1958 Seattle U males’s basketball team to the NCAA title sport, earning Most Outstanding Player honors although Kentucky won that championship contest.
Inducted in 2006Elgin Gay Baylor (September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American skilled basketball participant, coach, and govt. He played 14 seasons as a ahead in the National Basketball Association for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers, appearing in eight NBA Finals. Until 2003, Sterling has been extensively criticized for his unwillingness to invest in the Clippers, due partly to the shedding seasons.