anagramking Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Also, I've read that Shaq is paying for his funeral. I like that move. Here is an article about Mikan: GEORGE MIKAN: 1924-2005 NBA legend changed the game Patricia Sullivan, Washington Post Friday, June 3, 2005 George Mikan, the bespectacled giant who so dominated pro basketball in its early years that the game was forced to change its rules, died of kidney failure Wednesday at a rehabilitation hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 80. The 6-foot-10, 245-pound center was the sport's first superstar. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1959, Mikan was voted the game's greatest player in the first half of the 20th century and was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996. "He was a guy who changed the game," said Matt Zeysing, historian and archivist at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. "He was agile getting up and down the floor. Most centers at that time were lumbering, and .. . not necessarily as aggressive as he was. He was the intimidator.'' Mikan's size, his history of personal fouls (he led the league in fouls three times), in addition to his 10 broken bones and 166 stitches during his career, caused some to call him a rough player, sort of an early-day Shaquille O'Neal. He was certainly a tough player, powering through the 1950 playoffs with a broken wrist and the 1951 playoffs with a fractured leg. "I played all right, scored in the 20s. I couldn't run, sort of hopped down the court," he told Newsday in 1990. Mikan's sweeping hook shots dropped in from his right or left hand. His old-fashioned two-handed set shot was also deadly. Mikan led the Minneapolis Lakers to five championships and led the pros in scoring six times. He averaged 22.6 points per game in his NBA career, when game scores were much lower than they are today. In the 1948-49 season, he averaged 28.3 points and was the league's MVP. Mikan played the low post, close to the basket, and was an inside shooter. The rulemaking National Basketball Committee widened the foul lane from six to 12 feet to make it more difficult for Mikan and players like him to score, but it seemed to have little effect. Mikan was an immensely popular player when the sport attracted only a few thousand fans to each game. He was one of the first basketball players on the Wheaties "breakfast of champions" cereal box, and on a December night in 1949, the marquee at Madison Square Garden overlooked the rest of the Lakers team to tout "Geo. Mikan vs. Knicks." "He literally carried the league," Bob Cousy, the Boston Celtics' Hall of Famer and the NBA's pre-eminent guard in its early years, told the AP on Thursday. "He gave us recognition and acceptance when we were at the bottom of the totem pole in professional sports." Mikan started out in the pros making an unheard-of $12,000 with the Chicago American Gears. By 1950, as the highest-paid player in the game, he made $25,000. He retired after the 1953-54 season, staged a temporary comeback in 1955-56, coached the Lakers for part of the 1957-58 season, then became a lawyer in the Minneapolis area. In 1967, he returned to the game as commissioner of the fledgling ABA. Mikan is survived by his wife, Patricia, four sons and two daughters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war2112 Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 That is a real classy move on O'Neal's part. He seems to becoming less and less enamored of himself on the whole. I was sorry to hear of Mikan's passing, he had a huge impact on the game, but happy to hear of O'neal's gesture. He gets real high marks for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anagramking Posted June 4, 2005 Author Share Posted June 4, 2005 QUOTE (war2112 @ Jun 3 2005, 08:12 PM) That is a real classy move on O'Neal's part. He seems to becoming less and less enamored of himself on the whole. I was sorry to hear of Mikan's passing, he had a huge impact on the game, but happy to hear of O'neal's gesture. He gets real high marks for this. I think Shaq's image is much better now that he is away from Kobe and the Laker circus. The Heat are doing well with him, and the Lakers stayed home. That only made Shaq look better. I would agree that Shaq did a great thing here, too. The common refrain we hear today is that the players of today have no appreciation for the game or its history. Shaq stepped up and showed otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sark Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Too bad about George. He was a great player for the REAL Lakers in my hometown, Minneapolis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
war2112 Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 QUOTE (anagramking @ Jun 4 2005, 01:32 AM) The common refrain we hear today is that the players of today have no appreciation for the game or its history. Shaq stepped up and showed otherwise. He sure as hell did. Plus, he heard the Mikan family was in some financial trouble (I'm sure due in no small part to his diabetes) and wanted to help out. I'm really impressed with how he took care of this for the Mikan family. His team is in a play-off battle and he makes room for one of the cornerstones of the game. Kudos to him. P.S. You're certainly on target about the move from the L.A. circus. He has come out smelling like roses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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