Elgin Baylor Remembered, Honored By NBA Community

Elgin Baylor Remembered, Honored By NBA Community

The Los Angeles Lakers announced that “former Lakers player and Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor passed away peacefully of natural causes today (March 22) in Los Angeles at the age of 86. Baylor was surrounded by his wife, Elaine, and his daughter, Krystal.”

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“Elgin was the love of my life and my best friend,” said Elaine per the Lakers. “And like everyone else, I was in awe of his immense courage, dignity and the time he gave to all fans. At this time we ask that I and our family be allowed to mourn his passing in privacy.”

The Lakers detailed Elgin Baylor’s basketball background:

“Born on September 16, 1934, in Washington, D.C., Baylor played one season at the College of Idaho before transferring to Seattle University, where he led the team to their first NCAA championship game before being drafted first overall by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1958. Baylor averaged 24.9 points, 15.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists as a rookie en route to Rookie of the Year honors. Baylor would go on to play 14 seasons for the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers, earning NBA All-Star honors 11 times with 10 First Team All-NBA appearances. After retiring from basketball in 1971, Baylor went on to serve as a coach for the New Orleans Jazz and Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Clippers.”

“Elgin Baylor set the course for the modern NBA as one of the league’s first superstar players,” Adam Silver said in a statement.  “An 11-time All-Star during his Hall of Fame career with the Lakers, Elgin produced 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 – a performance made all the more extraordinary by the fact that he had spent part of that season away from his team while on active duty in the Army.”

Silver went on to say: “In addition to his legendary playing career, Elgin was a man of principle.  He was a leading activist during the height of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s and an influential voice among his fellow players.  After his retirement, Elgin remained a part of the NBA family as both a coach and an executive, imparting his wisdom to generations of NBA talent.  Elgin will be deeply missed, and we send our thoughts and prayers to his wife, Elaine, his family and friends.”

The Lakers also note that Baylor was “inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977, Baylor’s No. 22 jersey was retired by the Lakers on November 3, 1983, and a statue honoring Baylor was unveiled on April 6, 2018, at STAPLES Center.”

Baylor is being honored and remembered by so many people in the basketball community and beyond:

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