Elgin Gay Baylor (born September 16, 1934 in
Washington, DC) was one of the most graceful and
acrobatic forwards to ever play the game of
basketball playing 15 seasons for the NBA's
Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers.

Elgin Baylor played college basketball at the
College of Idaho and Seattle University, leading
the SU Chieftains to the NCAA championship game in
1958 (where they lost to the Kentucky Wildcats).
Following his junior season, Baylor joined the
Minneapolis Lakers for the 1958-1959 season and
moving with them to Los Angeles in 1960.

In 1959, Baylor was named the NBA Rookie of the
Year and from the 1960-61 to the 1962-63 seasons,
he averaged 34.8, 38.3 and 34.0 points per game,
leading the Lakers to the NBA Finals eight times
(although never winning). Baylor was a 10-time
All-NBA First Team selection and went to the NBA
All-Star Game 11 times.

Baylor began to be hampered with knee problems
during the 1963-64 season and, while still a very
powerful force, was never quite the same player,
never averaging above 30 points per game again.
During Baylor's career, the Lakers were a
consistently powerful team, but were continuously
overshadowed by the Boston Celtics dynasty of the
time.

Baylor finally retired during the 1971-72 season
because of his nagging knee problems. His
retirement resulted in two great ironies. First,
the Lakers' next game after his retirement was
the first of an NBA record of 33 consecutive wins.
Second, the Lakers went on to win the NBA
Championship that season, something that Baylor
never achieved. He finished his career with an
astonishing 23,149 points, 3,650 assists and
11,463 rebounds over 846 games.

In 1974, Baylor was hired to be an assistant coach
and later the head coach for the New Orleans Jazz,
but had a lackluster 86-135 record and retired
following the 1978-79 season. In 1986, Baylor was
hired by the Los Angeles Clippers as the team's
vice president of basketball operations, where he
still is today.

In 1977, Baylor was elected to the Basketball Hall
of Fame and in 1980 he was named to the NBA