Vern Mikkelsen

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Vern Mikkelsen
Minnesota Pipers
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points
10,063 (14.4 ppg)
Rebounds5,940 (9.4 rpg)
Assists1,515 (2.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com 
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Arild Verner Agerskov Mikkelsen (October 21, 1928 – November 21, 2013) was an American professional

power forwards in the 1950s, he was known for his tenacious defense and durability, playing 699 out of a possible 704 games during his career.[1] He was a six-time All-Star and four-time Second Team All-Pro, and was inducted into the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame[2] and the sport's Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
in 1995.

Along with fellow Hall of Famers

Minneapolis Lakers, today's Los Angeles Lakers
.

Mikkelsen was also an All-American in college, and earned a master's degree from the University of Minnesota.

Early life

Mikkelsen was born in

Lutheran pastor in Askov.[3]

College career

Mikkelsen entered

1949 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament[3] and Mikkelsen was voted an All-American. He would later receive a master's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota
.

Professional career

Minneapolis Lakers (1949-1960)

Mikkelsen played with

NBA All-Star Games
and was named to the All-NBA Second Team four times in his career.

Mikkelsen ended his career after ten seasons in the NBA in 1959, having played in 699 of a possible 704 regular-season games. He led the NBA in both personal fouls and fouling out of games for three straight seasons during his career, and finished his career with 10,063 points scored. Mikkelsen still holds the league record for career games fouling out with 127, which he did in only 631 games (the NBA did not record that statistic until his second season).

Honors and awards

In 1956, Mikkelsen was inducted into the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame.[2]

Mikkelsen was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 along with Laker coach John Kundla.[3]

In 2002, during halftime of a Lakers/Timberwolves game, Mikkelsen and fellow Hall of Fame teammates George Mikan, Slater Martin, Arlee Pollard (widow of Jim Pollard), Clyde Lovellette and Coach John Kundla were each presented with championship rings. The Minneapolis players received the same rings provided by the NBA to the champion Los Angeles Lakers that same year.

Coaching

Mikkelsen later coached and was general manager of the

Minnesota Pipers of the American Basketball Association.[4]

Personal life and family

Mikkelsen's wife Jean died in 2002 after 47 years of marriage. Their two sons are named Tom and John. In 2006 a biography was published by John Egan titled The Vern Mikkelsen Story.

Mikkelsen died on November 21, 2013, in Wayzata, Minnesota surrounded by his family.[5]

NBA career statistics

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

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1949–50† Minneapolis 68 – .399 .752 – 1.8 11.6
1950–51 Minneapolis 64 – .402 .676 10.2 2.8 14.1
1951–52† Minneapolis 66 35.5 .419 .761 10.3 2.7 15.3
1952–53† Minneapolis 70 35.2 .435 .752 9.3 2.1 15.0
1953–54† Minneapolis 72 31.2 .374 .742 8.5 1.7 11.1
1954–55 Minneapolis 71 36.0 .422 .747 10.2 2.0 18.7
1955–56 Minneapolis 72 29.2 .386 .804 8.4 2.4 13.4
1956–57 Minneapolis 72 30.5 .377 .807 8.8 1.7 13.7
1957–58 Minneapolis 72 33.2 .410 .786 11.2 2.3 17.3
1958–59 Minneapolis 72 29.7 .390 .806 7.9 2.2 13.8
Career 699 32.5 .403 .766 9.4 2.2 14.4
All-Star 6 18.3 .386 .650 8.7 1.3 11.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1950
† 		Minneapolis 12 – .369 .767 – 1.5 13.0
1951
 Minneapolis 7 – .406 .660 9.6 2.4 15.6
1952
† 		Minneapolis 13 38.1 .432 .828 8.5 1.5 13.3
1953
† 		Minneapolis 12 33.3 .331 .848 8.7 2.0 12.0
1954
† 		Minneapolis 13 28.8 .459 .861 5.6 1.3 10.2
1955
 Minneapolis 7 29.9 .353 .783 11.1 1.9 13.7
1956
 Minneapolis 3 30.0 .423 .900 5.7 0.7 13.3
1957
 Minneapolis 5 32.4 .398 .647 8.6 3.4 17.6
1959
 Minneapolis 13 28.5 .412 .767 7.2 1.8 15.5
Career 85 31.8 .396 .783 8.0 1.8 13.4

Notes

  1. ^ a b "4-time NBA champion Vern Mikkelsen dies at 85", The Washington Post, November 22, 2013, archived from the original on November 23, 2013
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780892042272
    .
  3. ^ a b c Goldstein, Richard (November 22, 2013), "Vern Mikkelsen, Hall of Famer Who Won Four Titles With the Lakers, Dies at 85", The New York Times
  4. ^ Remember the ABA: Pittsburgh/Minnesota Pipers Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Star Tribune
    .
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