Yes, those of you who really know me know that “DR. J.” is my all-time favorite professional basketball player and that Brad Davis is second on my list—for differing reasons! And though Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were each “something else,” in their own ways, they were not my favorites; Wilt Chamberlain was my “number three.”
So, who do I think was the “blazer of the high-flying soarers and graceful leapers and dancing dribblers?” Why, it has to be ELGIN BAYLOR, who was “ahead of his time” as a “high-flying aerial artist,” who revolutionized Professional Basketball and sometimes did not seem to be touching the floor as he dribbled and ran the court and hung in the air and seemed to invent new shots as the need developed.
Baylor was an “All-Star” eleven times and was a member of the Minneapolis Lakers and then the Los Angeles Lakers for 14 years. When he and Jerry West were “lighting up” the score boards and making moves and shots that before that time had been unheard of, I tried to never miss one of their televised games! Jerry West, one of the greatest shooters and scorers in NBA history spoke of his teammate and friend as “one of the most spectacular shooters the WORLD has ever seen.” He also remembered Elgin Baylor “caring for him as a father would a son. He was a PRINCE, both on and off the court.”
For more than twenty years after his retirement as a player, he was an executive with the Los Angeles Clippers and has his own personal statue outside the Staples Center. He continued to be a beloved figure in Los Angeles until his death in March of this year, even though he never won a championship ring, although he made the finals at least seven times. I guess it is not too great a “come down” to be denied by the likes of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain when it comes to accolades for NBA titles and scoring records!
One accolade for Baylor I read reminds me of Michael Jordan’s feats— “He had an uncanny ability to hang in the air indefinitely, inventing shots and developing deception on the course of his ‘flight path.’”
Elgin was the 1st NBA player to score 70 POINTS in one game and still to this day (I think.) holds the NBA “Finals Game” scoring record with 61 points in 1962 against the Celtics.
For his career, this legend averaged 27.4 points per game, along with 13.5 rebounds. *Interesting to note, once Mr. Baylor was on “active Army reserve duty” and played only while on week-end passes, and he averaged 38 points per game that season!*
Even the final several seasons of his career, while he has fighting fairly severe knee injuries, he remained a perennial “All-Star!” He retired after only nine games of the 1971-1972 season, because his injury-plagued knees would not let him play up to his “high standards.” His acrobatic skills and his “lighter-than-air” heroics that were “way before his time,” blazed the ways for many of our modern superstars! And, from what I can find, he was always a gentleman!
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