Remembering Elgin Baylor, Veteran and First African American NBA Superstar
In a 2010 interview on ESPN, the late Kobe Bryant waxed poetic about Elgin Baylor saying, “Everything I heard about Elgin [Baylor] was that he was Dr. J [Julius Irving] and Michael Jordan… before Dr. J and Michael Jordan.” Bryant went on to explain that what set Baylor apart from others in his generation was that, “He had great footwork, a very explosive first-step, was very strong…. once he dipped that shoulder and got by players, it was basically goodnight. You were at his mercy.”
On March 22, 2021, Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers legend Elgin Gay Baylor died at the age of 86. Baylor was a professional basketball player, coach, league executive, and social activist in the 20th century. During his 14 year tenure in the National Basketball Association, Baylor averaged 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds while appearing in 11 All-Star games and making 10 All-NBA Teams. He finished his career totals of 23,149 points, 3,650 assists, and 11,463 rebounds — scoring a career 71 points in a single game and once posting a rebounding mark of 19.8 rebounds per game at the height of 6 foot and 5 inches.
Baylor is also famous for setting the record for points scored in an NBA finals game with 61 points. This record still stood for 24 years into the modern era of basketball. Baylor’s record is impressive because of the fact that during the 1961-1962 season Baylor spent time away from the Lakers on active duty in the U.S. Army.
After rupturing his achilles in 1970-1971, Baylor abruptly retired from the NBA.The next season, the Los Angeles Lakers went on to win the Championship without Baylor. Although Baylor never won an NBA Championship, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977.
After his playing career, Elgin Baylor coached for the New Orleans Jazz from 1976 to 1979, and then later became the NBA’s first African-American general manager for the Los Angeles Clippers for twenty two years, winning Executive of the year in 2006. On April 6, 2018, the Los Angeles Lakers organization erected a statue of Baylor performing his signature running “Bank Shot” outside the Staples Center. Elgin Baylor’s legacy is that he revolutionized the game of basketball both athletically and stylistically. Often dubbed as one of the league’s first superstars, his play influenced future generations of African-American ball players whether they knew it or not. With Baylor’s passing, the basketball community will keep Elgin Baylor in mind as they watch today’s superstar pirouette through the air, remembering Elgin as the first to do so.
