Los Angeles Lakers: Did ESPN’s all-time NBA ranking get it right?
By Amaar Burton
Elgin Baylor
ESPN rank: 22
The prevailing narrative is that the unofficial lineage of the high-flying NBA phenoms began with Elgin Baylor.
As the story goes, Baylor paved the way for David Thompson and Julius Erving … who paved the way for Michael Jordan … who paved the way for Kobe Bryant and LeBron James … who paved the way for … Zion Williamson, perhaps? Giannis Antetokounmpo? That last part is TBD.
Whoever gets next, it’s Baylor who is widely credited with introducing an electric brand of basketball that was played in the air.
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The 6’5″ forward played his whole 14-year pro career with the Lakers, beginning in Minneapolis and ending in L.A. Baylor is arguably the greatest scorer in NBA history who never led the NBA in scoring; for three straight years between 1961-63 he averaged at least 34 points per game, but Baylor happened to be in the league at the same time as Wilt Chamberlain. Baylor has a 71-point game on his resume, and still owns the record for the highest-scoring NBA Finals game with 61.
Another factor that has made Baylor regularly underrated and likely kept him out of ESPN’s top 20 is that he never won a championship.
Baylor went 0-7 in the Finals, most of those with Jerry West at his side. The Lakers finally broke through and won it all in 1972 after adding Chamberlain, but Baylor had retired earlier that season. He was given a championship ring by the franchise, but he wasn’t on the court or on the roster when his team won it all.
Baylor certainly did enough to earn a spot in the all-time top 25, and it’s understandable why he didn’t crack the top 20.