Mikan, George L. Jr.
Basketball
b. June 18, 1924, Joliet, IL
There were other big players before and during Mikan's prime, but he was the first truly dominant big man. A professional teammate, Bob Calihan, said he had never seen defenses double-team a player before Mikan came along. Joe Lapchick, a pretty good man in his own right, commented, "Everyone forgets that Mikan is also the best feeder from the pivot this game has ever seen. Cover him normally and he kills you with his scoring. Cover him abnormally and he murders you with passes."
His size was a major problem before he entered college. He didn't play high school basketball because he was awkward, and a badly broken leg kept him in bed, convalescing, for a year and a half. When he entered Chicago's DePaul University in 1942, he was 6-foot-10, weighed 245 pounds, and wore thick glasses.
First-year DePaul Coach Ray Meyer transformed him into a confident, aggressive player by working closely with him on exercises and drills and teaching him how to make hook shots accurately with either hand. Meyer later said, "As soon as George stopped feeling sorry for himself and realized his height was something to be admired, he was on his way to being great."
Mikan became a three-time All-American and was college player of the year in 1945 and 1946. He led the nation in scoring with 23.9 points per game in 1944/45 and 23.1 in 1945-46. When DePaul won the 1945 National Invitation Tournament, Mikan was named most valuable player, scoring 120 points in three games, including 53 points in a 97-53 win over Rhode Island.
As soon as the 1945-46 college season was over, Mikan signed with the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League. He played seven games with them at the end of the season, leading the team to the championship of the World Basketball Tournament. Mikan was tournament MVP with 100 points in 5 games.
He left the Gears for six weeks during the 1946-47 season in a contract dispute, but returned to lead them to the NBL playoff championship after they finished third in the league's Western Division. The Gears folded and Mikan then joined the Minneapolis Lakers. He led the league in scoring with a 21.3 average, was named MVP, and the Lakers won the NBL playoffs.
In 1948, the NBA was formed by a merger of the NBL and the Basketball Association of America. Mikan led the new league in scoring its first three years and Minneapolis won five of the first six NBA championships, missing out only in 1951. The physical beatings he'd been taking persuaded Mikan to retire after the 1953/54 season, when he was only thirty. He had broken both legs, both feet, his right wrist, three fingers, a thumb, and his nose at various times.
He returned for just 37 games in 1955-56, scoring only 390 points, then retired for good. However, he coached the Lakers for part of the 1957-58 season, winning only 9 of 39 games, and he was commissioner of the American Basketball Association when it was organized in 1967. The ABA's distinctive red, white and blue striped ball was his idea.
In 520 pro games, Mikan scored 11,764 points, an average of 22.6 per game, and he was a six-time first-team all-star. He was named the best player of the first half century by the Associated Press in 1950, was one of ten players selected for the NBA Silver Anniversary Team in 1972, and was on the Helms Athletic Foundation all-time All-American team, chosen in a 1952 poll.