RIP Elgin Baylor

[adkindo]

Baylor passed of natural causes at the age of 86.

One of my favorite players from the list of guys I never saw play. Baylor was one of the greatest players to play the game and while his reputation has held strong among historians, I feel it often does not get the level of respect among the general public. He was dominant at every level from being a 2x Consensus All American, Player of the Year, and Final 4 Most Outstanding Player @ Seattle College.....to ROY and 10X All NBA 1st Team in the league. He was a prolific scorer and at one time held the record for most points in an NBA game with 71, and still holds the record for the most points in a Finals game with 61 (a game that he also grabbed 22 rebounds).

[50YrRedsFan]

Another hero from my youth gone. RIP Elgin Baylor

[Kingspoint]

If you wanted a starting five of all time, you couldn't go wrong if he was on your team.

[texasdave]

How about a 60s-decade starting lineup consisting of the Twin Towers (Russell and Chamberlain), a backcourt of West and Robertson to go along with the swingman Elgin Baylor?

[Kingspoint]

How about a 60s-decade starting lineup consisting of the Twin Towers (Russell and Chamberlain), a backcourt of West and Robertson to go along with the swingman Elgin Baylor?

Yeah, he didn't really get to play with Wilt until Baylor's career was practically over. They had the one cross-over season of, what, 69-70?

[Chip R]

I liked what Bob Ryan said about him: "All modern individual offensive basketball flows from Elgin Baylor. He took a game that was horizontal and only a bit vertical and made it diagonal. Dr J, Michael and Kobe are his progeny. Knees did him in."

[Betterread]

Passing of a legend. Played his first two years as a Minneapolis Laker, and is one of the team’s hall of famers along with Mikan and Mikkelson.

[RedsBaron]

Yeah, he didn't really get to play with Wilt until Baylor's career was practically over. They had the one cross-over season of, what, 69-70?

Wilt joined the Lakers for the 1969-70 season, which saw the Lakers lose to the Celtics in seven games. The next season Elgin, Wilt, West and the rest again lost in the finals in seven games, this time to the Knicks. Elgin was injured early in the 1970-71 season before returning for a few games at the start of the 1971-72. Immediately after he retired the 7-72 Lakers went on their 33 game winning streak and later won the NBA title. Even though he had only played a few games that season the Lakers still gave Elgin a championship ring, which he deserved.

[adkindo]

Wilt joined the Lakers for the 1969-70 season, which saw the Lakers lose to the Celtics in seven games. The next season Elgin, Wilt, West and the rest again lost in the finals in seven games, this time to the Knicks. Elgin was injured early in the 1970-71 season before returning for a few games at the start of the 1971-72. Immediately after he retired the 7-72 Lakers went on their 33 game winning streak and later won the NBA title. Even though he had only played a few games that season the Lakers still gave Elgin a championship ring, which he deserved.

yeah, he was there for a lot of good teams with West....and him and West just could not overcome those Celtics teams. Then the year that his body could not go anymore, the Lakers with West and Chamberlain won the championship against the Knicks. I have spoke to some older NBA and Lakers fans over the years, and several have pointed out to me how critical Baylor was to the franchise on the timeline that carries through today. They point out the Lakers were winners in Minneapolis but that did not travel with them to LA.....and many did not view the franchise as one....but two separate teams. Baylor (and West) were able to keep the Lakers in that theoretical runner up spot for several years, which lead to acquiring Wilt and the '72 Title. If there is not Baylor they explain, the LA Lakers may just have been a middle of the pack team, and if they never get that '72 Title, the subsequent timeline could have been very different. The '72 title put them on the map as a championship organization in an exploding city, which led to Kareem, Showtime, etc. Nobody can say for certain how it turns out, but I do think we can say with certainty it is different if they did not have Baylor (and West) ensuring they were in that top tier after relocating to LA. There is a story quoting the Minneapolis Lakers owner claiming that the Lakers would have filed bankruptcy if they did not acquire Baylor at that specific time.....which if true really does mean if there was no Baylor, there probably would be no Lakers.

[cumberlandreds]

One of the true all time greats. He like Wilt was way ahead of his time. He did things on the court that had never been seen before then. RIP Elgin Baylor.

[Roy Tucker]

I remember going down to the Cincinnati Gardens in 1970 to see the Lakers play the Royals and get to see the vaunted Baylor/West/Chamberlain troika. It turned out that all 3 were hurt and a Laker guard by the name of Dick Garrett had the game of his life and torched the Royals.

I do remember seeing Baylor play on the ABC game of the week on Sundays in the mid-60’s. He seemed to have a knack for hanging in the air while not having a stellar vertical leap. I think he had the body control to prolong his jump and get off shots late in that leap. A cool player to watch in his prime.

That ABC Sunday game was the only NBA game I’d get to see all week. Hard to believe in these cable/streaming day when you can see most any game you want. It was usually the Celtics or 76ers and the occasional Bullets or Lakers and Warriors.

[westofyou]

When he came into the league he was the only black player in the top ten of scoring, he changed that drastically, four years later there were five, a decade later seven. They said he had more moves than a clock, he held the game scoring record of 71 vs the Knicks, a number so large that owner Bob Short bought everyone on the team cufflinks that were inscribed with a "71" (Side note: Bob Short is responsible for moving the Lakers out of Minnesota and later did the same with the Washington Senators to Texas, in each case he left a gaping hole that wasn't filled for decades.)

Baylor in 61-62 averaged 38 points a game, five over 50, 11 between 40-49 and he stated to the press that Wilt would top his record and probably score 100 as well. That season Wilt had FORTY FIVE games that he scored more than 50 points, including three that topped Baylor's prior record.

[westofyou]

Really good article on Baylor with links to some video and other stories

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/3...angeles-lakers