Yesterday morning, the Lakers officially announced that the legendary Elgin Baylor died at the age of 86.
Speaking of NBA The superstar in the long history, if Elgin Baylor calls himself second, I am afraid no one dares to call himself first.
In terms of honor, Baylor led the Lakers to the NBA Finals 8 times in his career, but lost all 8 times. At the beginning of the 1971-72 season, he played in only 9 games due to a knee injury and chose to retire because he "thinks he can no longer help the team."
Things are impermanent, and luck makes people feel good. Who would have thought that the Lakers won the championship successfully that season.
In order to thank Baylor for his contribution, the Lakers wanted to add Baylor's name to the roster, but Baylor did not accept this honor. In his opinion, he has not helped the team in the championship.
In this way, Baylor became the most tragic "uncrowned king" in NBA history.
However, this is not just the entire portrayal of Baylor's "tragic" career.
Baylor has never received the honor of scoring champion even once, but he averaged 27.36 points in his career, second only to Jordan and Chamberlain . The fourth-time scoring champion Durant (27.06 points) and Iverson (26.66 points) are both behind him.
Baylor has never received even one rebounding honor, but his average rebounds per game can rank tenth in history, with an average of 13.55 per game, such as the 7th rebounding king Dazhu Rodman (13.12) and 5th rebounding king Howard (12.14) are both behind him.
As the No. 1 NBA pick in 1958, he spent all his career with the Lakers, with a total of 846 appearances, averaging 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, 11 selected for the All-Star lineup, and 10 entered the All-Star team. Baylor's No. 22 jersey has been retired by the Lakers, and he is also a Hall of Fame player and one of the top 50 superstars in history.
Let’s hear how the outside world evaluates Baylor:
"Before Julius Irving , before Michael Jordan, there was Elgin Baylor," said Spencer Heywood, Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver once said in a statement: "Elkin Baylor set the path for the modern NBA and became one of the league's earliest superstars. Elkin achieved remarkable results with his athleticism and groundbreaking style of play, including setting an NBA Finals record with 61 points in Game 5 of the 1962 Championship Series."
Yes, Baylor was the spokesperson for elegance before Jordan, even before Magic, Bird Bird, and Dominic Wilkins.
When it comes to legends in the history of the Lakers, people often think of Magic Johnson, O'Neal, Abdul-Jabbar, West, Wilt Chamberlain... But Baylor definitely cannot be ignored and should not be ignored.
The best evidence is outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Although Baylor is no longer alive, his legendary career is like that statue, which will remain in the hearts of fans forever.
