Elgin Baylor
Encyclopedia
Elgin Gay Baylor is a retired Hall of Fame American basketball player
and former NBA general manager who played 13 seasons as a forward
for the NBA
's Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers
.
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, and an 11-time NBA All-Star, 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 twenty-two years as GM of the Los Angeles Clippers, being named the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006, before being relieved of his duties slightly before the 2008-09 season began.
, and Baylor sat out a year to play for Westside Ford, an AAU team in Seattle, while establishing eligibility at Seattle.
Baylor led the Seattle Chieftains (now known as the Redhawks) to the NCAA championship
game in 1958, falling to the Kentucky Wildcats
, Seattle's last trip to the Final Four
. Following his junior season, Baylor joined the Minneapolis Lakers in 1958
.
In his three collegiate seasons, one at Idaho and two at Seattle, Baylor averaged 31.3 points per game. Baylor is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi
fraternity.
, 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 (a great amount of money at the time), 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."
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.
to the 1962-63 season
s, 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 grabbing 25 rebounds. 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 state, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass
. Despite playing only 48 games during the 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 with 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.
His signature running bank shot, which he was able to release quickly and effectively over taller players, led him to numerous NBA scoring records, several of which still stand.
The 71 points Baylor scored on November 15, 1960 was a record at the time. The 61 points he scored in game 5 of the NBA Finals in 1962 is still an NBA Finals record. An underrated rebounder, Baylor averaged 13.5 rebounds per game during his career, including a sterling 19.8 rebounds per game during the 1960-61 season — a season average exceeded by only five other players in NBA history—all of whom were 6'9" or taller.
A 10-time All-NBA First Team selection and 11-time NBA All-Star, Baylor was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977. He was named to the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1980 and the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. in 2009, SLAM Magazine
ranked him number 11 among its Top 50 NBA players of all time.
, but had a lackluster 86-135 record and retired following the 1978-79 season
. In 1986, Baylor was hired by the Los Angeles Clippers
as the team's vice president of basketball operations. He stayed in that capacity for 22 years before resigning in October 2008 at the age of 74. During his tenure, the Clippers managed only two winning seasons and amassed a won loss record of 607 and 1153. They also won only one playoff series during this time.
Baylor was selected as the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006. That year the Clippers won their first playoff series since 1976, when the franchise was located in Buffalo, New York
and named the Buffalo Braves
.
In February 2009, Baylor filed an employment discrimination
lawsuit against the Clippers, team owner Donald Sterling
, team president Andy Roeser, and the NBA. He alleged that he was underpaid during his tenure with the team and then fired because of his age and race. Baylor's claim was rejected by a Los Angeles state court jury on March 30, 2011 by a unanimous 12-0 vote.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and former NBA general manager who played 13 seasons as a forward
Basketball position
The three basketball positions normally employed by organized basketball teams are guard, forward, and center. More specifically, they can be classified into the five positions: point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. The rules of basketball do not mandate them, and...
for the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
.
Baylor was a gifted shooter, strong rebounder
Rebound (basketball)
A rebound in basketball is the act of successfully gaining possession of the basketball after a missed field goal or free throw. Rebounds in basketball are a routine part in the game, as all possessions change after a shot is successfully made...
, 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, and an 11-time NBA All-Star, 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 twenty-two years as GM of the Los Angeles Clippers, being named the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006, before being relieved of his duties slightly before the 2008-09 season began.
Early life in D.C.
Elgin "Rabbit" Baylor had two basketball playing brothers, Sal and Kermit. After stints at Southwest Boys Club and Brown Jr. High, Baylor was a 3 time All City player in High School. Elgin played his first 2 years at Phelps in the '51 and '52 basketball seasons where he set his first area scoring record of 44 points vs Cardozo. During his 2 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 ('52-'53) to work in a furniture store and to play basketball in the local recreational leagues. Baylor reappeared for the '54 season playing for the newly opened Spingarn High School and the 6'5, 190 lb senior was named 1st 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 8 Interhigh Division II league games. On Feb 3, 1954 in a game against his old Phelps team, he scored 31 in the first half. Playing with 4 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 .College career
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 UniversitySeattle University
Seattle University is a Jesuit Catholic university located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA.SU is the largest independent university in the Northwest US, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs within eight schools, and is one of 28 member...
, and Baylor sat out a year to play for Westside Ford, an AAU team in Seattle, while establishing eligibility at Seattle.
Baylor led the Seattle Chieftains (now known as the Redhawks) to the NCAA championship
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
game in 1958, falling to the Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
, Seattle's last trip to the Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
. Following his junior season, Baylor joined the Minneapolis Lakers in 1958
1958-59 NBA season
The 1958–59 NBA Season was the 13th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship , beating the Minneapolis Lakers 4 games to 0 in the NBA Finals....
.
In his three collegiate seasons, one at Idaho and two at Seattle, Baylor averaged 31.3 points per game. Baylor is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...
fraternity.
NBA player
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 MikanGeorge Mikan
George Lawrence Mikan, Jr. , nicknamed Mr. Basketball, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball Association...
, 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 (a great amount of money at the time), 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."
Rookie of the Year
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 registered 55 points in a single game, then the third-highest mark in league history behind Joe Fulks's 63 and Mikan's 61. Baylor won the NBA Rookie of the Year AwardNBA Rookie of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1952–53 NBA season, to the top rookie of the regular season. The winner receives the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, which is named in honor of the Philadelphia Warriors head...
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.
Middle Years
From the 1960-611960-61 NBA season
The 1960–61 NBA season was the 15th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 3rd straight NBA Championship, beating the St...
to the 1962-63 season
1962-63 NBA season
The 1962–63 NBA season was the 17th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning their 5th straight NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.- History :...
s, 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 grabbing 25 rebounds. 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
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
, was called to active duty
Active duty
Active duty refers to a full-time occupation as part of a military force, as opposed to reserve duty.-Pakistan:The Pakistan Armed Forces are one of the largest active service forces in the world with almost 610,000 full time personnel due to the complex and volatile nature of Pakistan's...
during the 1961-62 season, and being stationed in Washington state, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass
Pass (United States military)
A pass is permission to be away from one's military unit for a limited period of time. Time away on a pass is not counted against leave, the annual allotment of days off from duty.-Types of passes:...
. Despite playing only 48 games during the 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 with 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.
Retirement
Baylor finally retired nine games into the 1971-72 season because of his nagging knee problems. The timing of his retirement could not have been worse as this caused him to coincidentally miss two great achievements. First, the Lakers' next game after his retirement was the first of an NBA record of 33 consecutive wins. Second, the Lakers went on to win the NBA Championship that season, something that Baylor never achieved.Career Achievements
Baylor was the last of the great undersized forwards in a league where many guards are now his size or bigger. He finished his playing days with 23,149 points, 3,650 assists and 11,463 rebounds over 846 games.His signature running bank shot, which he was able to release quickly and effectively over taller players, led him to numerous NBA scoring records, several of which still stand.
The 71 points Baylor scored on November 15, 1960 was a record at the time. The 61 points he scored in game 5 of the NBA Finals in 1962 is still an NBA Finals record. An underrated rebounder, Baylor averaged 13.5 rebounds per game during his career, including a sterling 19.8 rebounds per game during the 1960-61 season — a season average exceeded by only five other players in NBA history—all of whom were 6'9" or taller.
A 10-time All-NBA First Team selection and 11-time NBA All-Star, Baylor was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977. He was named to the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1980 and the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. in 2009, SLAM Magazine
SLAM Magazine
SLAM Magazine is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994, published by Source Interlink. SLAM publishes nine issues a year to its circulation of over 500,000 readers worldwide.-History:...
ranked him number 11 among its Top 50 NBA players of all time.
NBA Coach and Executive
In 1974, Baylor was hired to be an assistant coach and later the head coach for the New Orleans JazzUtah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, but had a lackluster 86-135 record and retired following the 1978-79 season
1978-79 NBA season
The 1978–79 NBA season was the 33rd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Seattle SuperSonics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Washington Bullets 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals, a rematch of the previous year's Finals, but with the opposite...
. In 1986, Baylor was hired by the Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
as the team's vice president of basketball operations. He stayed in that capacity for 22 years before resigning in October 2008 at the age of 74. During his tenure, the Clippers managed only two winning seasons and amassed a won loss record of 607 and 1153. They also won only one playoff series during this time.
Baylor was selected as the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006. That year the Clippers won their first playoff series since 1976, when the franchise was located in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and named the Buffalo Braves
Buffalo Braves
The Buffalo Braves were a team in the National Basketball Association. They later moved to San Diego, California to become the San Diego Clippers then subsequently the Los Angeles Clippers....
.
In February 2009, Baylor filed an employment discrimination
Employment discrimination
Employment discrimination is discrimination in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, and compensation. It includes various types of harassment....
lawsuit against the Clippers, team owner Donald Sterling
Donald Sterling
Donald T. Sterling is an American real estate mogul, attorney, and the owner of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. Sterling acquired the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million, and as of the 2008 rankings, the team is valued at $297 million by Forbes magazine, ranking them...
, team president Andy Roeser, and the NBA. He alleged that he was underpaid during his tenure with the team and then fired because of his age and race. Baylor's claim was rejected by a Los Angeles state court jury on March 30, 2011 by a unanimous 12-0 vote.
NBA highlights
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1959)
- All-NBA First Team 10 times (1959-65, 67-69)
- Eleven-time NBA All-Star (1959-65, 1967-70)
- NBA All-Star Game Co-MVP (1959)
- Holds NBA Finals single-game record for most points (61) on April 14, 1962 against the Boston Celtics
- Scored 71 points (8th highest in history) against the New York Knicks (Nov. 15, 1960)
- No. 4 all-time with 87 regular season 40-point games
- Scored 23,149 points in only 846 games (27.4 points per game, fourth best all-time) and averaged 30 points or more three times (1961-63)
- Retired as NBA's third all-time leading scorer
- Retired as fifth leading scorer in All-Star Game history (19.8 points per game)
- Ranked sixth in NBA Finals all-time scoring (26.4 in 44 games)
- Ranked seventh in NBA playoffs all-time scoring (27.0 in 134 games)
- NBA 35th Anniversary Team (1980)
- NBA 50th Anniversary Teams (1996)
- NBA Executive of the Year (2006)
Regular season
| Stat | High | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 71 | at New York Knicks | |
| Points | 64 | vs. Boston Celtics | |
| Field goal percentage | |||
| Field goals made | 28 | at New York Knicks | |
| Field goal attempts | 55 | vs. Philadelphia Warriors | |
| Free throws made, no misses | — | ||
| Free throws made, one miss | 20-21 | at St. Louis Hawks | |
| Free throws made | 20 | at St. Louis Hawks | |
| Free throw attempts | |||
| Rebounds | 30 | vs. Cincinnati Royals | |
| Assists | 16 | vs. Phoenix Suns |
Playoffs
| Stat | High | Opponent | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 61 | at Boston Celtics | |
| Points | 49 | vs. Detroit Pistons | |
| Field goal percentage | |||
| Field goals made | 22 | at Boston Celtics | |
| Field goal attempts | 46 | at Boston Celtics | |
| Field goal attempts | 45 | at St. Louis Hawks | |
| Free throws made, none missed | — | ||
| Free throws made, one missed | — | ||
| Free throws made | |||
| Free throw attempts | |||
| Rebounds | |||
| Assists |
Quotes
- "He was one of the most spectacular shooters the game has ever known", Baylor's longtime teammate Jerry WestJerry WestJerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His nicknames include "Mr...
told HOOP magazine in 1992. "I hear people talking about forwards today and I haven't seen many that can compare with him." - Bill SharmanBill SharmanWilliam Walton "Bill" Sharman is a former professional basketball player and coach. Sharman completed high school in the rural city of Porterville, California and is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest...
played against Baylor and coached him in his final years with the Lakers. "I say without reservation that Elgin Baylor is the greatest cornerman who ever played pro basketball", he told the Los Angeles Times at Baylor's retirement in 1971. - Tommy Hawkins, Baylor's teammate for six seasons and opponent for four (and later a basketball broadcaster) declared to the San Francisco Examiner that "pound for pound, no one was ever as great as Elgin Baylor." "Elgin certainly didn't jump as high as Michael Jordan", Hawkins told the San Francisco Examiner. "But he had the greatest variety of shots of anyone. He would take it in and hang and shoot from all these angles. Put spin on the ball. Elgin had incredible strength. He could post up Bill Russell. He could pass like Magic [Johnson] and dribble with the best guards in the league."
NBA
- List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game
- List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game
- List of highest playoff series scoring averages in National Basketball Association history
College
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career rebounding leaders
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds
- List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 60 or more points in a game
External links
- Elgin Baylor Bio from NBA.com
- Basketball Hall of Fame page
- Elgin took the game to new heights
- The Forgotten Pioneer
- Baylor's page at Basketball Reference http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bayloel01.html