Elgin Baylor

At 90 years old, Elgin Baylor has this physical status:

Despite his success as a high school basketball player, no major college recruited Baylor because at the time, college scouts did not recruit at black high schools. While some colleges were willing to accept Baylor, he did not qualify academically. A friend of Baylor's who attended the College of Idaho helped arrange a football scholarship for Baylor for the 1954-55 academic year. Baylor never played football for the school, however; instead, he was accepted to the college's basketball team without having to try out. He outperformed the other players on the team that season, averaging over 31 points and 20 rebounds per game.

After the season, the College of Idaho dismissed its 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 Amateur Athletic Union 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.

Professional career

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 had been unsuccessful since the retirement of its star center George Mikan in 1954. The year prior to Baylor's arrival, the team finished 19–53 – the worst record in the league – with a squad that was slow, bulky and aging. It had no permanent home arena to play in, was losing popularity, and in financial trouble. Owner Bob Short, who was ready to sell the team, believed Baylor's star athletic talents and all-around game could save the franchise. Short told the Los Angeles Times in a 1971 interview: "If he had turned me down then, I would have been out of business. The club would have gone bankrupt." Baylor signed with the Lakers for $20,000 per year (equivalent to $190,000 in 2021), a large sum in the NBA at the time. According to basketball historian James Fisher, by virtue of his exceptional skills and his central role in the team's business plan, Baylor became the NBA's first franchise player.

Baylor immediately exceeded expectations and ultimately saved the Lakers franchise. As a rookie in 1958–59, Baylor finished fourth 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 scored 55 points in a single game, then the third-highest mark in league history behind Joe Fulks' 63 and Mikan's 61.

On January 16, 1959, Baylor refused to play in a road game in Charleston, West Virginia, after the hotel the team booked denied lodging to the team's three black players. When a teammate tried to convince Baylor to play in the game, Baylor said, "I'm a human being, I'm not an animal put in a cage and let out for the show."

Baylor won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and led the Lakers to the NBA finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in the first four-game sweep in finals history, kicking off the greatest rivalry in NBA history.

In 1960, the Lakers moved from Minnesota to Los Angeles, drafted Jerry West to play point guard, and hired Fred Schaus who was also the coach during West’s college career. The duo of Baylor and West, joined in 1968 by center Wilt Chamberlain, led the Lakers to success in the Western Division throughout the 1960s.

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 an NBA scoring record when he scored 71 points in a victory against the New York Knicks, while also grabbing 25 rebounds. In doing so, Baylor became the first NBA player to score more than 70 points in a game, breaking his own NBA record of 64 points that he had set the previous November. Baylor held the record until 1962, when Chamberlain scored 100 points.

Baylor, a United States Army Reservist, was called to active duty during the 1961–62 season, and being stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass. He was unable to practice with the team before or during the season, and had to fly coach across the country on weekends to join the team at whichever arena they were appearing. Despite playing only 48 games that season, he still managed to score over 1,800 points, averaging 38.3 points (the highest average in NBA history by any player other than Chamberlain), 18.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. Later that season, in a Game Five NBA Finals victory against the Boston Celtics, Baylor set the still-standing NBA record for points in an NBA Finals game with 61. Basketball historian James Fisher described Baylor's performance that season as: "Not bad for a part-time job." Baylor later said he "kind of enjoyed that season."

Baylor suffered a severe knee injury during the opening game of the 1965 Western Division playoffs, which required surgery and left him unable to play in the remainder of the playoffs. Although he scored more than 24 points in each of the next four seasons despite his injury, the limitations of knee surgery at the time and the lack of meaningful rehab left him with nagging knee problems, ultimately resulting in surgery on both knees, which impaired his playing ability for the rest of his career.

Baylor played just two games in 1970–71 before rupturing his Achilles tendon, and finally retired nine games into the subsequent 1971–72 season because of his nagging injuries. Baylor told the press that he could no longer play at the highest level of the sport and wanted to free up room on the Lakers' roster for other players.

In 14 seasons as the Lakers' forward, Baylor helped lead the team to the NBA Finals eight times, but the team lost each time. As a result of his retirement at the beginning of the season, Baylor missed two historic achievements: the Lakers' first game afterwards began an NBA record 33 win streak, after which they won the 1972 championship. The organization awarded Baylor a championship ring despite the early retirement.

Coaching career

In 1974, Baylor was hired to be an assistant coach and later the head coach for the New Orleans Jazz, but had a lackluster 86–135 record and was fired following the 1978–79 season, shortly before the team moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Executive career

In 1986, Baylor was hired by the Los Angeles Clippers as the team's vice president of basketball operations. He was selected as the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006. During his tenure, the Clippers managed only two winning seasons and amassed a win–loss record of 607–1153. They made the playoffs only four times, and won only one playoff series. He stayed in that capacity for 22 years until October 2008.

NBA career statistics

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