A Minnesota sports legend- albeit one from before my time- has passed away, as former Minneapolis Lakers star George Mikan died yesterday at the age of 80. Mikan led the old Lakers to six championships, Minnesota’s last until 1987.
Mikan was named to the list of NBA’s 50 greatest players in 1996, and I always thought that list taught us something about the history of each of our sports. The NBA list was weighted heavily towards the ‘70s and later, and of the 50 players 49 (all but Pete Maravich) were alive at the time (though Wilt Chamberlain, Dave DeBusschere, and Mikan have since passed on). Meanwhile, around two thirds of baseball’s All-Century Team was dead by the time it was announced in 1999.
George Mikan was among the best of his era or any other, and will be greatly missed.
Posted by Stephen Silver at June 3, 2005 02:50 AMI don't know if you saw it, but Sid had an amusing anecdote with a Jewish twist about how the Lakers signed Mikan.
I am paraphrasing from memory. Sid was working for Lakers (and former Vikes owner) Max Winter at the time, and Mikan was reluctant to sign, and had other offers from a rival league. Mikan was in the Twin Cities meeting with the Lakers and was in a hurry to catch a plane back to Chicago to meet with the other team. It was Sid's job to take Mikan to the airport.
Winter, in front of Mikan told Sid IN HEBREW to go the wrong way to the airport so that Mikan would miss his flight and give them more time to woo him. Mikan signed with the Lakers and they won 5 NBA championships.
And that my friends is how Kobe came to run the Lakers. Well that simply was the first chapter.
Posted by: J. Lichty at June 5, 2005 11:31 PM