Oh no one of the greats for sure. Amazing player for the Lakers. As a Clipper fan, a terrible GM, but that does not erase his greatness.

My prayers and condolences for his family.

The first time I saw Elgin play, he scored 73 points. I changed my religion that night---also my shorts..

Elgin Baylor was a little before my time, but from what I've gathered, he was one of the precursors who led to Michael Jordan. That is, first there was Elgin, then there was Dr. J, then there was MJ. Without Elgin, there may have been no Dr. J; without Dr. J, there may have been no MJ. All were supremely skilled wing players who could score in a variety of ways both inside and outside thanks in part to their extreme athleticism and imaginative/improvisational playing abilities.

Elgin Baylor, who died Monday at age 86, is one of just four players in NBA history to average 25 points and 10 rebounds for his career.

Question: Who are the other three players?

The great Elgin Baylor. The furst time I saw him and the Chieftains play was in the West Regionals at the Cow Palace in 1958 -- Cal, Seattle, Idaho Stu, uSF. Baylor with his odd "twitch" and high accuracy shooting from either corner.

Wilt, Baylor, and Petit.
I don't know #4.
Nowitski?

joe amos yaks said:

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Wilt, Baylor, and Petit.
I don't know #4.
Nowitski?

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Karl Malone? Abdul-Jabbar? (just my WAGs)

Big C said:

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joe amos yaks said:

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Wilt, Baylor, and Petit.
I don't know #4.
Nowitski?

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Karl Malone? Abdul-Jabbar? (just my WAGs)

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Not sure Abdul-Jabbar scored that much.
K. Malone?

Trivia answer: Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Pettit, Karl Malone

joe amos yaks said:

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The great Elgin Baylor. The furst time I saw him and the Chieftains play was in the West Regionals at the Cow Palace in 1958 -- Cal, Seattle, Idaho Stu, uSF. Baylor with his odd "twitch" and high accuracy shooting from either corner.

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The 1958 Western Regional was the first time I saw Elgin Baylor as well. It was a very good Regional #19 Seattle upset #4 USF by two points, with Elgin scoring 35 along with 14 rebounds. Charlie Brown, a very smooth guard, was Seattle's second best player. Cal had an easy time with Idaho State, and lost the Final to Seattle in overtime. Cal had a chance to win the game in regulation, with only a few short seconds left. Newell called timeout, and set up a play where Cal inbounded the ball at the far end, and the players brought the ball up the floor by making 3 or 4 passes, and Al Buch missed about a 4 foot floater to beat the buzzer. The ball never hit the floor once. I had never seen a team do that, get the ball all the way up the floor without a dribble. Today, I don't think we will ever see that, as one player will dribble the ball up the floor and usually shoot it himself in that situation. Bob Dalton and Cal held Baylor to 26 points, but he got 18 rebounds, and Dalton fouled out. The rest of the Cal starters were Al Buch, Don McIntosh, George Sterling, and Earl Robinson. Seattle beat #3 Kansas State with Bob Boozer in the national semi-final by 22 points, but Baylor got hurt and was doubtful for the Final. Baylor played and scored 25 in the Final, but #9 Kentucky won. They were loaded with Consensus AA Johnny Cox, another AA in Vern Hatton, and future NBA All Star MVP Adrian Smith off the bench. Denny Fitzpatrick said later that Newell felt that if Cal had gotten past Seattle, then that would have been Cal's first NCAA Championship, because he felt that Cal was a better team than #9 Kentucky. Fitzpatrick still says the Bears should have won three Championships in a row.

I quit school to work in San Diego, and at night I used to listen to Laker games on the radio. Chick Hearn some times described Baylor with the ball, trying to set up a drive, and "Elgin yoyoing the dribble, back and forth, and there he goes by his man for the score." When I got to go to a Laker game, I saw he did dribble it like a yoyo. It was like he had the ball on a string, and it came right back to his hand. He had big hands, so maybe he was palming it with his hand on top of the ball for a fraction of a second.

I saw Baylor again a few years later, playing for the Lakers in an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Warriors at the Cow Palace, as the NBA wanted to test the Bay Area market to see if they were ready for an NBA team. Baylor scored 60 for the Lakers, and Wilt scored 75 for the Warriors. It was a contest between two players, mostly. I remember Chamberlain tossing in several shots off the glass, in what would be called 3 pointers today along with an array of Dipper dunks and finger rolls. You mentioned that twitch Baylor had. I never found out if it was involuntary, or just a juke to throw the defender off rhythm. On one play, Baylor made a jump shot from the corner sideline, and turned around as if to head up the floor. He gave that twitch, and spun around and intercepted the inbounds pass, and made another jump shot from almost the exact same spot from where he made the first one a second or two before. First 4-point play I ever saw.

Sad that he never won a championship in college or the NBA. Sports-reference has these nicknames for him when he played in the NBA: Mr. Inside, Elg, Rabbit, Motormouth, Tick Tock, Aches and Pains

"...Cal ... lost the Final to Seattle in overtime. Cal had a chance to win the game in regulation, with only a few short seconds left. Newell called timeout, and set up a play where Cal inbounded the ball at the far end, and the players brought the ball up the floor by making 3 or 4 passes, and Al Buch missed about a 4 foot floater to beat the buzzer. The ball never hit the floor once. I had never seen a team do that, get the ball all the way up the floor without a dribble. Today, I don't think we will ever see that..."

Yes, I remember that remarkable and impressive sequence and the unfortunate missed shot. Thank you for citing the Chieftan's excellent off guard Charlie Brown, and for your commentary.

joe amos yaks said:

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"...Cal ... lost the Final to Seattle in overtime. Cal had a chance to win the game in regulation, with only a few short seconds left. Newell called timeout, and set up a play where Cal inbounded the ball at the far end, and the players brought the ball up the floor by making 3 or 4 passes, and Al Buch missed about a 4 foot floater to beat the buzzer. The ball never hit the floor once. I had never seen a team do that, get the ball all the way up the floor without a dribble. Today, I don't think we will ever see that..."

Yes, I remember that remarkable and impressive sequence and the unfortunate missed shot. Thank you for citing the Chieftan's excellent off guard Charlie Brown, and for your commentary.

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Thanks for this. I should also have mentioned that #4 USF was probably favored to win that Regional, with stars like Fred LaCour, Mike Farmer, Gene Brown, and Art Day. They were 25-1, and had beaten Cal by 12 in the 2nd game of the season, and had beaten #12 Seattle by 9 in the 5th game of the season. Their only loss was to Stanford, 50-49 at Kezar.