NBA legend Elgin Baylor dies at the age of 86

Elgin Baylor (YouTube)

Elgin Baylor, one of the greatest basketball players of all-time never to have won the NBA Finals, passed away on Monday at the age of 86 of natural causes according to Liz Roscher of Yahoo! Sports. A native of Los Angeles, California, Baylor holds the record for the most points in a game during the NBA Finals. On April 14, 1962, Baylor scored 61 points in a 126-121 Lakers win over the Boston Celtics in game five of the 1962 NBA Finals. However, the Celtics won the series four games to three.

Baylor played 14 seasons with the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers from 1958 to 1972. The Lakers moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles for the 1960-61 season.

In 846 games, Baylor averaged a double-double, with 27.4 points per game, and 13.5 rebounds. An 11-time All-Star, Baylor averaged a minimum of 30 points per game in his first three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. He had 34.8 points per game in 1960-61, 38.3 points per game in 1961-62, and 34 points per game in 1962-63.

Baylor is one of only six players in NBA history to have multiple 60- point games. The others are Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Michael Jordan, and Damian Lillard. In addition to the 61 points in the 1962 NBA Finals, Baylor eclipsed 60 points in a game three times in the regular season. He had a career-high 71 points in a 123-108 Los Angeles Lakers win over the New York Knicks on November 15, 1960, 64 points in a 136-115 Minneapolis Lakers win over the Boston Celtics on November 8, 1959, and 63 points in a 151-147 Los Angeles Lakers win over the Philadelphia Warriors on December 8, 1961.

However, even though Baylor reached the NBA Finals eight times, he lost each time to the Boston Celtics. Ironically, in the final season Baylor played in the NBA (1971-72), he only played nine games because of a knee injury. The Lakers did give Baylor a championship ring even though he did not suit up for them in the 1972 NBA Playoffs.

Baylor was initially the first overall pick of the Minneapolis Lakers of the 1958 NBA Draft. In his rookie season of 1958-59, he was the NBA All-Star Game most valuable player (24 points and 11 rebounds), and was the NBA rookie of the year (averaged 24.9 points, and 15 rebounds). Baylor’s number 22 was retired by the Lakers, and he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977.

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