The Los Angeles Lakers have a storied past, yet many people have forgotten or simply ignore their history prior to moving to Southern California.
From 1947 to 1960, they played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where they were the NBA’s first dynasty, winning five championships in six seasons in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
The lynchpin of that dynasty was center George Mikan, the league’s very first superstar. He averaged 23.1 points and 13.4 rebounds a game in seven NBA seasons.
Moving forward, fans who go to a Lakers game at Crypto.com Arena will not be able to ignore his legacy anymore. The team plans to retire his No. 99 jersey on Sunday when it takes on the Denver Nuggets.
"Because of you, there's no limits to where we can play." –@SHAQ
Tonight we raise George Mikan's jersey into the rafters. pic.twitter.com/ljJkLJEFTy
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 30, 2022
Mikan started a long tradition of great Lakers big men, which continued with Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol and now Anthony Davis.
When fans watch Davis and Nikola Jokic do their thing tonight, they should remember a nondescript man wearing glasses paved the way for them some 70 years ago.
