George Mikan

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For the American businessman, see George L. Mikan III.

George Mikan
Minneapolis Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBL/BAA/NBA statistics
Points
11,764 (22.6 ppg) (NBL / BAA / NBA)
10,156 (23.1 ppg) (BAA / NBA)
Rebounds4,167 (13.4 rpg) (NBA last five seasons)
Assists1,245 (2.8 apg) (BAA / NBA)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006

George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (

ambidextrous hook shot all helped to change the game.[1] He also utilized the underhanded free-throw shooting technique long before Rick Barry made it his signature shot.[2]

Mikan had a highly successful playing career, winning seven NBL, BAA, and

goaltending rule, the widening of the foul lane—known as the "Mikan Rule"—and the creation of the shot clock.[3]

After his playing career, Mikan became one of the founders of the American Basketball Association (ABA), serving as commissioner of the league. He was instrumental in forming the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves expansion team. In his later years, Mikan was involved in a long-standing legal battle against the NBA to increase the meager pensions of players who had retired before the league became lucrative. In 2005, Mikan died of complications from chronic diabetes.[4]

For his accomplishments, Mikan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959. He was also named to the 25th, 35th, 50th and 75th NBA anniversary teams.[5][6][7][8]

Early life

Mikan was born on June 18, 1924, in Joliet, Illinois, to a Croatian father, Joseph, and a Lithuanian mother, Minnie,[9] along with brothers Joe and Ed and sister Marie.[10] His grandfather, Juraj (George) Mikan was born in Vivodina, Croatia, then part of Austria-Hungary, in or about 1874.[9] Juraj emigrated to Braddock, Pennsylvania, in 1891, where he married another Croatian immigrant, Marija, in 1906 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. On October 17, 1907, Mikan's father Joseph was born, and soon thereafter the family moved to Joliet, where they opened Mikan's Tavern at the corner of Elsie Avenue and North Broadway.[10]

As a boy, Mikan shattered one of his knees so badly that he was kept in bed for a year and a half. In 1938, Mikan attended the Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and originally wanted to be a Catholic priest but later moved back home to finish at Joliet Catholic.[11] Mikan did not seem destined to become an athlete. When Mikan entered Chicago's DePaul University in 1942, he stood 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), weighed 245 lb (111 kg), moved awkwardly because of his frame, and wore thick glasses for his nearsightedness.[12]

College career

While in high school, Mikan met 28-year-old rookie DePaul basketball coach

jump rope to make him a complete athlete.[4]

Mikan in a game against Long Island University at Madison Square Garden, 1944

Mikan dominated his peers from the start of his National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) career at DePaul. He intimidated opponents with his size and strength and was unstoppable on offense with his hook shot. Mikan established a reputation as one of the hardest and grittiest players in the league, often playing through injuries and punishing opposing centers with hard fouls.[11] In addition, Mikan surprised the basketball world with his ability to goaltend, swatting balls in flight before they could reach the hoop. "We would set up a zone defense that had four men around the key and I guarded the basket," Mikan later recalled. "When the other team took a shot, I'd just go up and tap it out." As a consequence, the NCAA (and later the NBA) outlawed touching a ball either after it had reached its apex in flight or after it had touched the backboard and had a chance of going in the hoop.[1] Bob Kurland, a 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) tall center for Oklahoma A&M, was one of the few opposing NCAA centers to have any success against Mikan.[13]

Mikan was named the Helms NCAA College

Most Valuable Player for scoring 120 points in three games, including 53 points in a 97–53 win over Rhode Island; his 53-point total equaled the score of the entire Rhode Island team.[12]

Professional career

Chicago American Gears (1946–1947)

Mikan as member of the Chicago American Gears

After the end of the 1945–46 college season, Mikan signed with the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League, a predecessor of the modern NBA. He played with the Gears for 25 games at the end of the 1946–47 NBL season, scoring 16.5 points per game as a rookie. Mikan led the Gears to a third-place finish at the 1946 World Professional Basketball Tournament, where he was named Most Valuable Player after scoring 100 points in five games.[15] Mikan was also chosen for the All-NBL Team.[1][12]

Before the start of the 1947–48 NBL season, Gears owner Maurice White pulled the team out of the league. White attempted to create a 24-team league called the

Minneapolis Lakers, playing for coach John Kundla.[1]

Minneapolis Lakers (1947–1954, 1956)

In his first season with the Lakers, Mikan led the league in scoring with 1,195 points, becoming the only NBL player to score more than 1,000 points in an NBL season.[16] Following the regular season, he was named the league's MVP[17] and the Lakers won the NBL title.[18] In April 1948, he led the Lakers to victory in the World Professional Basketball Tournament, where he was named MVP after scoring a tournament-record 40 points against the New York Renaissance in the title-clinching game.[19]

The following year, the Lakers and three other NBL franchises jumped to the fledgling Basketball Association of America. Mikan led the new league in scoring, and again set a single-season scoring record. The Lakers defeated the Washington Capitols in the 1949 BAA Finals.[citation needed]

In 1949, the BAA and NBL merged to form the NBA. The new league started the inaugural

guard Bob Harrison made a 40-foot buzzer beater to give Minneapolis a two-point win. The team split the next four games, and in Game 6, the Lakers won 110–95 and won the first-ever NBA championship. Mikan scored 31.3 points per game in the playoffs.[1]

Mikan (far right) and the 1950–51 Lakers

In the

Rochester Royals. With Mikan hardly able to move all series long, the Royals won 3–1. Decades later, in 1990, Mikan recalled that his leg was taped with a plate; however, despite effectively hopping around the court on one foot, he said he still averaged 20-odd points per game.[1]

In the 1951–52 NBA season, the NBA decided to widen the foul lane under the basket from 6 feet to 12 feet. As players could stay in the lane for only three seconds at a time, the widened lane forced big men like Mikan to position themselves further from the basket on offense.[1] A main proponent of this rule was New York Knicks coach Joe Lapchick, who regarded Mikan as his nemesis; the rule was dubbed "The Mikan Rule".[22] While Mikan still scored an impressive 23.8 points per game, this output was less than his 27.4 points per game the previous season. Also, his field goal percentage sank from .428 to .385. He still pulled down 13.5 rebounds per game and logged 3.0 assists per game.[20] Mikan also had a truly dominating game that season. On January 20, 1952, he scored a personal-best 61 points in a 91-81 double-overtime victory against the Rochester Royals. At the time, it was the second-best scoring performance in league history behind Joe Fulks' 63-point game in 1949. Mikan's output more than doubled that of his teammates, who combined for 30 points. He also grabbed 36 rebounds, a record at the time.[citation needed] Later that season, the Lakers reached the 1952 NBA Finals and were pitted against the New York Knicks. This qualified as one of the strangest Finals series in NBA history, as neither team could play on their home court in the first six games. The Lakers' Minneapolis Auditorium was already booked, and the Knicks' Madison Square Garden was occupied by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Instead, the Lakers played in St. Paul and the Knicks in the damp, dimly lit 69th Regiment Armory. Perpetually double-teamed by Knicks' Nat Clifton and Harry Gallatin, Mikan was unable to assert himself, and the two teams split the first six games. In the only true home game, Game 7 in the Auditorium, the Lakers won 82–65 and edged the Knicks 4–3, winning the NBA title and earning themselves $7,500 to split amongst the team members.[22]

During the 1952–53 NBA season, Mikan averaged 20.6 points per game, a career-high 14.4 rebounds per game, and 2.9 assists per game. His rebounding average was the highest in the league.[20] In the 1953 NBA All-Star Game, Mikan had 22 points and 16 rebounds and won that game's MVP Award. The Lakers made the 1953 NBA Finals and again defeated the Knicks 4–1.[1]

In the 1953–54 NBA season, the now 29-year-old Mikan slowly declined, averaging 18.1 points, 14.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.[20] Under his leadership, the Lakers won another NBA title, giving the team its third-straight championship and fifth in six years. From an NBA perspective, the Minneapolis Lakers dynasty has only been convincingly surpassed by the eleven-title Boston Celtics dynasty of 1957–69.[1]

At the end of the 1953–54 season, Mikan announced his retirement. He later said: "I had a family growing, and I decided to be with them. I felt it was time to get started with the professional world outside of basketball." Injuries also were a factor, as Mikan had sustained 10 broken bones and 16 stitches in his career and often played through these injuries.

The Associated Press.[1]

Career statistics

NBL

Legend
  GP Games played  FGM  Field goals made
 FTM  Free throws made  FTA  Free throws attempted
 FT%  Free throw percentage  PTS  Total
points
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† Denotes seasons in which Mikan's team won an NBL championship
‡ Denotes NBL record

Source[24]

Regular season

Year Team GP FGM FTM FTA FT% PTS PPG
1946–47† Chicago 25 147 119 164 .726 413 16.5
1947–48† Minneapolis 56 406‡ 383‡ 509 .752 1,195‡ 21.3
Career 81 553 502 673 .746 1,608 19.9

Playoffs

Year Team GP FGM FTM FTA FT% PTS PPG
1947† Chicago 11 72 73 96 .760 217 19.7
1948† Minneapolis 10 88 68 96 .708 244 24.4
Career 21 160 141 192 .734 461 22.0

BAA/NBA

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 †  Won an NBA championship  *  Led the league

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1948–49† Minneapolis 60 — .416 .772 — 3.6 28.3*
1949–50† Minneapolis 68 — .407 .779 — 2.9 27.4*
1950–51 Minneapolis 68 — .428 .803 14.1 3.1 28.4*
1951–52† Minneapolis 64 40.2 .385 .780 13.5* 3.0 23.8
1952–53† Minneapolis 70 37.9 .399 .780 14.4* 2.9 20.6
1953–54† Minneapolis 72 32.8 .380 .777 14.3 2.4 18.1
1955–56 Minneapolis 37 20.7 .395 .770 8.3 1.4 10.5
Career 439 34.4 .404 .782 13.4 2.8 23.1
All-Star 4 25.0 .350 .815 12.8 1.8 19.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1949
† 		Minneapolis 10 — .454 .802 — 2.1 30.3
1950
† 		Minneapolis 12 — .383 .788 — 3.0 31.3
1951
 Minneapolis 7 — .408 .800 10.6 1.3 24.0
1952
† 		Minneapolis 13 42.5 .379 .790 15.9 2.8 23.6
1953
† 		Minneapolis 12 38.6 .366 .732 15.4 1.9 19.8
1954
† 		Minneapolis 13 32.6 .458 .813 13.2 1.9 19.4
1956
 Minneapolis 3 20.0 .371 .769 9.3 1.7 12.0
Career 70 36.6 .404 .786 13.9 2.2 24.0

Post-playing career

In

Dwight Eisenhower, the inexperienced Mikan lost by a close margin of 52% to 48%. Wier received 127,356 votes to Mikan's 117,716. Returning to the legal profession, Mikan was frustrated after hoping for an influx of work. For six months, Mikan did not get any assignments at all, leaving him in financial difficulties that forced him to cash in on his life insurance.[25]

Problems also arose in Mikan's professional sports career. In the

real estate law. He also purchased and renovated buildings in Minneapolis.[1]

In 1967, Mikan returned to professional basketball by becoming the first commissioner of the upstart American Basketball Association, a rival league to the NBA. In order to lure basketball fans to his league, Mikan invented the league's characteristic red-white-and-blue ABA ball, which he thought more patriotic, better suited for television, and more crowd-pleasing than the brown NBA ball.[1] He also instituted a three-point line.[26] Mikan resigned from the ABA in 1969,[27] but the league continued to operate until 1976.[28]

In the mid-1980s, nearly 25 years after the Lakers had moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and after the ABA's

Minnesota Pipers had departed, Mikan headed a task force with the goal of returning professional basketball to Minneapolis. This bid was successful, leading to the inception of the new Minnesota Timberwolves franchise in the 1989–90 NBA season.[1]

In 1994, Mikan became the part-owner and chairman of the board of the Chicago Cheetahs, a professional roller hockey team based in Chicago that played in Roller Hockey International.[29] The franchise folded after its second season.[citation needed]

Personal life, health, and death

In 1947, Mikan married his wife, Patricia, and they remained together for 58 years until his death. The Mikans had six children: Sons Larry, Terry, Patrick and Michael and daughters Trisha and Maureen.[21] All his life, Mikan was universally seen as the prototypical "gentle giant"—tough and relentless on the court, but friendly and amicable in private life.[21] He was also the older brother of Ed Mikan,[30] who played basketball for DePaul, played in the BAA, and played for the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA.

In his later years, Mikan developed

collective bargaining agreement would finally vindicate his generation. In 2005, however, his condition worsened.[4][21] Mikan died in Scottsdale, Arizona, on June 1, 2005, of complications from diabetes and other ailments. His son Terry reported that his father had undergone dialysis three times a week for four hours at a time during the last five years of his life.[4][21]

Legacy

Mikan's death was widely mourned by the basketball world.

Game Five of the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals between the Heat and the Detroit Pistons, there was a moment of silence to honor Mikan. Bob Cousy remarked that Mikan figuratively carried the NBA in the early days and single-handedly made the league credible and popular.[4]

Mikan is lauded as the pioneer of the modern age of basketball. He scored 11,764 points (an average of 22.6 per game) and averaged 13.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 520 NBL, BAA and NBA games. As a testament to his fierce playing style, he also led the league three times in personal fouls.

NBA 50 Greatest Players in 1996.[1][3][12] Mikan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in its inaugural 1959 class.[33] Mikan's impact on the game is also reflected in the Mikan Drill, which has become a staple exercise of "big men" in basketball.[34] Mikan was a harbinger of the NBA's future, which would be dominated by tall, powerful players.[1][3]

Bowman
card

When superstar center

Staples Center commemorates Mikan and his fellow Minneapolis Lakers.[35] He is also honored by a statue and an appearance on a mural in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois.[citation needed
]

Mikan's 1948

Bowman trading card was at one point the most expensive basketball card ever sold.[36]

In October 2022, Mikan was inaugurated into the Croatian-American Sports Hall of Fame.[37]

On October 30, 2022, the Lakers retired Mikan's No. 99 jersey.[38]

Rule changes

Mikan became so dominant that the NBA changed its rules of play in order to reduce his influence. The league widened the lane from six to twelve feet ("The Mikan Rule"). He also played a role in the introduction of the shot clock. In the NCAA, his dominating play around the basket led to the outlawing of defensive goaltending.[1][3]

As an official, Mikan is also directly responsible for the ABA three-point line which was later adopted by the NBA; the existence of the Minnesota Timberwolves;[1] and the multi-colored ABA ball, which still lives on as the "money ball" in the NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^
    NBA.com
    . Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  2. ^ jongib369 (September 29, 2012), George Mikan, archived from the original on November 16, 2021, retrieved March 3, 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f hoophall.com (February 23, 2007). "George Mikan Biography". Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f espn.com (February 23, 2007). "Mikan was first pro to dominate the post". Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  5. ^ "NBA Silver Anniversary Team | Basketball-Reference.com".
  6. ^ "NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team | Basketball-Reference.com".
  7. ^ "NBA at 50: Top 50 Players". NBA.com. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  8. NBA.com
    .
  9. ^ a b Mihanovich, Clement (July 1946). "The American Croatian Historical Review". Crown Croatian World Network. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Eterovich, Adam (July 20, 2013). "George Mikan gentle giant and the first big dominant basketball player in the history of NBA has Croatian roots". Crown Croatian World Network. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d Davis, Jeff (February 23, 2007). "The M and M boys". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  12. ^ a b c d e f hickoksports.com (February 23, 2007). "Biography – George Mikan". Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  13. ^ Michael Schumacher. Mr. Basketball: George Mikan, the Minneapolis Lakers, and the Birth of the NBA. University of Minnesota Press, 2008. 47.
  14. ISBN 0962013102
    .
  15. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. ^ "NBL Single Season Leaders and Records for Points". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  17. ^ "George Mikan voted Most Valuable Player". Hawaii Tribune-Herald. April 6, 1948. p. 6. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  18. Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  19. Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  20. ^ a b c d e f g basketball-reference.com (February 23, 2007). "George Mikan Statistics". Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  21. ^ a b c d e f usatoday.com (February 23, 2007). "NBA pioneer and Hall of Famer Mikan dies". USA Today. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  22. ^
    NBA.com. Archived from the original
    on May 28, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  23. ^ "NBA & ABA Progressive Leaders and Records for Points". Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  24. Basketball Reference
    . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  25. ^ El-Hai, Jack (April 17, 2007). "Blocked Shot". Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  26. ^ Walker, Rhiannon. "When the ABA added the 3-point line and multicolored ball: Forgotten Fridays". The Athletic.
  27. ^ "Mikan Resigns as Commissioner Because A.B.A. Shifts Headquarters Here; M'CRADY TO HEAD NEW YORK OFFICE". The New York Times. July 15, 1969 – via NYTimes.com.
  28. ^ Times, Sam Goldaper Special to The New York (June 18, 1976). "Pro Basketball Leagues Merge; New York to Retain Two Teams". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  29. ^ Anderson, Kelli. "George Mikan". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com.
  30. ^ Moore, C. J. "Ranking the 10 Best Sibling Tandems in College Basketball History". Bleacher Report.
  31. ^ Associated Press (June 3, 2005). "O'Neal extends gesture to predecessor's family". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020.
  32. ^ "LeBron chasing Kareem: Which NBA players have led the league in all-time points scored?". USA TODAY.
  33. ^ "Legends profile: George Mikan". NBA.com.
  34. ^ "How to do the Mikan Drill for Basketball". HoopsKing.com Instructional Basketball Company. November 18, 2019.
  35. ^ Springer, Steve (April 12, 2002). "A Banner Night for All the Lakers". Los Angeles Times.
  36. ^ Mueller, Rich (December 7, 2015). "PSA 10 George Mikan Rookie Card Sets New Record". Sports Collectors Daily. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  37. ^ "Inaugural Croatian-American Sports Hall of Fame induction held". croatianweek.com. October 18, 2022.
  38. ^ "LAKERS RETIRE GEORGE MIKAN'S NO. 99 JERSEY IN PREGAME CEREMONY". nba.com. October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022.

Further reading

External links

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