Tuesday March 23, 2021
“Superstar of his time”
NBA icon Elgin Baylor is dead
Elgin Baylor was considered one of the most attacking wingers in NBA history. He was the first professional to break the 70-point mark in a match. Now the former Lakers player has died at the age of 86.
The North American professional basketball league NBA mourns the loss of one of the greatest players in its history. Former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Elgin Baylor died on Monday at the age of 86. He died with his wife Elaine and daughter Krystal by his side, the Lakers announced. “Elgin was the superstar of his day and one of the few Lakers whose careers have spanned Minneapolis and Los Angeles,” wrote club president Jeanie Buss.
Baylor played an important role in the development of basketball into a sport with powerful jumps. He was the first NBA player to beat the 70-point mark with 71 points on December 11, 1960 against the New York Knicks. In his NBA career, he was one of the most attacking wingers in basketball history and has been compared to Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
In 1958 Baylor made his debut for the Minnesota Lakers. The team moved to California two years later. The forward with the number 22 was elected eleven times to the Allstar team and reached the NBA final eight times with the Lakers – but always lost seven times alone against the Boston Celtics. With 61 points against the Celtics in 1962, Baylor still holds the point record for a final game. It was not until the season after Baylor’s resignation in 1971 that the Lakers won the title again for the first time since 1954.
“Before Michael Jordan did amazing things in the air, there was an Elgin Baylor,” tweeted Lakers legend Magic Johnson. “He was a great man and I am eternally grateful for the advice he gave me, when I got into the league. “
Baylor, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977, was coach of New Orleans Jazz from 1976 to 1979 after his active career before he coined an era as general manager of the Lakers city rivals Los Angeles Clippers from 1986 to 2008. But even there he was denied a championship title.
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