Elgin Baylor Holds Back Tears During Statue Ceremony

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Baylor played simply two games in 1970–seventy one before rupturing his Achilles tendon, and eventually retired 9 games into the next 1971–seventy two season due to his nagging knee problems. The timing of his retirement caused him to overlook two great achievements—the Lakers’ subsequent recreation after his retirement was the first of an NBA-report 33 consecutive wins, and then the Lakers went on to win the NBA championship that season. The Lakers awarded Baylor a 1972 championship ring despite the fact that he had retired earlier within the season.

On February three, 1954, in a sport in opposition to his old Phelps team, he scored 31 within the first half. Playing with four fouls the entire second half, Baylor scored 32 extra points to determine a brand new DC-space report with 63 points. This broke the purpose record of 52 that Western’s Jim Wexler had set the 12 months earlier than when he broke Baylor’s previous record of 44. However, because Wexler was white and Baylor was black, Baylor’s document didn’t obtain the identical press coverage from the media, together with the Washington Post, as Wexler’s. One pioneer and NBA legend that seems a little unappreciated and MIA in many conversations about the biggest Lakers and small forwards ever is Elgin Baylor.

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But he said the game definitely was a shedding enterprise, with the losses to be no less than $800. “If they don’t assume any more of us than to let something like this happen, then perhaps we shouldn’t do enterprise with the National Basketball Association once more,” Corrie mentioned. “If Podoloff would not take motion towards Baylor, I think he no less than owes us an apology as a result of it was by way of him that the game was booked right here.” Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a participant in 1977.

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Then Baylor went about saving the financially troubled Lakers franchise. The team was situated in Minneapolis then, however after dominating the NBA within the early ’50s, it fell on exhausting times. In it finished 19-fifty three, by far the worst document in the league. The Lakers made Baylor, who still had a yr of faculty eligibility left, the primary pick in the draft and signed him for $20,000, big bucks in those days.

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Two years later he was relieved of his executive duties by the Clippers shortly before the 2008–09 season started. This article is being heavily edited as a result of its topic has just lately died. Knowledge concerning the circumstances of the dying and surrounding occasions may change rapidly as more information come to light. Initial news reports may be unreliable, and the newest updates to this article may not replicate probably the most current information.