On This Day: Lakers Take Elgin Baylor No. 1 Overall in 1958 NBA Draft
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April 22 marks the anniversary of the Minneapolis Lakers selecting Elgin Baylor with the first pick of the 1958 NBA Draft.
Baylor, a 6-foot-5 forward from Seattle University, played two seasons in Minneapolis before the franchise moved to Los Angeles, where he spent the remaining 12 years of his Hall of Fame career.
As a rookie, Baylor averaged 24.9 points, 15 rebounds and 4.1 assists, capturing Rookie of the Year honors and scoring a franchise-record 1,742 points without the benefit of a three-point line.
Over 14 seasons, he collected 23,149 points (third in Lakers history), 11,463 rebounds (first) and 3,650 assists (sixth). He topped 30 points per game in each of the club’s first three seasons in Los Angeles, helping the team establish a foothold in its new home.
Baylor’s 61 points against the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the 1962 NBA Finals remain the highest single-game scoring total in Finals history. The Lakers retired his No. 22 jersey on Nov. 9, 1963, and unveiled a statue in his honor outside Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) on April 6, 2018.
Legends such as Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant have credited Baylor’s aerial style—complete with the game’s early jump shot—for shaping their own approach to basketball.
Source: Lakers Nation
