The NBA’s first dynasty, the Minneapolis Lakers had fallen on hard times by the time they earned the first overall pick in the 1958 NBA Draft.
They used it to take two-time All-American Elgin Baylor, who earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors as a senior in a losing effort for Seattle.
Baylor’s arrival helped the Lakers return to prominence much more quickly, particularly after their move to
in 1960.
He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1958-59, an 11-time All-Star—including being named MVP of the 1959 All-Star Game—and a 10-time All-NBA selection. He also finished second in the NBA MVP voting in 1962-63, was third three times, fourth once and fifth twice.
Baylor finished in the top five in scoring eight times and in rebounding four times, placing third in free-throw shooting in 1962-63.
The Lakers reached the NBA Finals eight times during Baylor’s career—losing each of them. He did not play in the 1965 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics because of a knee injury.
In seven Finals series, Baylor played in 44 games, averaging 26.4 points and 13.7 rebounds in 42 minutes per game.
His knee continued to be a problem until finally—in November 1971—he retired. It was early in the same season the Lakers won their first title in L.A.
In 14 seasons in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, Baylor averaged 27.4 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 40 minutes per game, shooting 43.1 percent from the floor and 78 percent at the line.
In retirement, he was an assistant and later head coach of the New Orleans Jazz, posting a record of 86-135 in parts of four seasons.
That preceded a run of more than 22 years as general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, a post he held from April 1986 until October 2008, earning NBA Executive of the Year honors in 2005-06.
Baylor is 25th in NBA history with 11,463 rebounds, 28th with 23,149 points, fifth with an average of 40.0 minutes per game, fourth with an average of 27.4 points per game and ninth with an average of 13.5 rebounds per game.
Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977, Baylor was named to NBA all-time teams in both 1981 and 1996.
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