Minnesota Timberwolves fans often erase Minnesota professional basketball history before 1989. It’s easy because the Los Angeles Lakers currently have our five Minneapolis Lakers championships hanging from a banner in Staples Center. I have gone so far as to postulate that the Timberwolves franchise is cursed by this and that the curse may only be lifted by returning the banners to Target Center, where they belong. We begin our journey as Link does in Breath of the Wild, recovering the memories from our past. I call this The Legend of Elgin: Breath of the Wolves.
The Memory
For those who haven’t heard, Elgin Baylor, the greatest No. 22 in Minnesota professional basketball history, passed away on March 22nd at the age of 86. Throughout the course of his life, he became the most underrated player in the history of basketball.
Baylor was selected to 10 All-NBA First-Teams in 14 seasons. Only LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Karl Malone earned more. Two of those selections, 1959 and 1960, came when the Lakers still played in Minneapolis, HIS FIRST TWO SEASONS IN THE LEAGUE. Granted, there were only 16 starting forwards in the eight-team league at the time, but even so, he was third in MVP voting in his rookie year. Only Kevin Garnett, George Mikan, and Jim Pollard have ever made First-Team All-NBA in Minnesota.
He was the first version of Julius Erving and Michael Jordan, and he had shades of LeBron. He led the Lakers in points, assists, and rebounds in four separate seasons. This was a feat only since bested by LeBron. Baylor is also said to have pioneered the in-game dunk. Few 6’5” NBA players in the ’50s and ’60s possessed the athleticism to get to the rim, much less posterize Bill Russell, the greatest defender of all-time:
Baylor is the critically acclaimed players’ player. Through my research, I lost track of the amount of former players who named him as their GOAT:
So why has Elgin Baylor become so overlooked? Probably because he never won. He lost all seven finals series he played in, despite reaching Game 7 in four of those appearances.
In Baylor’s era, the big man reigned supreme. From the inception of the NBA until 1974, each championship team included a center who made First-Team All-NBA. George Mikan, Neil Johnston, Dolph Schayes, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Willis Reed reigned supreme over the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s before defensive lane violations, 16-foot-wide painted areas, and the 3-point line. In hindsight it’s kind of a miracle that those Lakers teams led by Elgin Baylor and Jerry West even made the finals, much less five of them, without an All-NBA Center.
It wasn’t until the end of Elgin’s career that Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Lakers. By then, Baylor was already 34. He would end up playing two and a half seasons with Wilt, retiring after a ruptured achilles ended his career less than a season short of his team winning the 1972 NBA Championship.
This is why, out of all of the players like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Steve Nash, and Allen Iverson, Elgin Baylor is the single greatest player never to win a title and is widely regarded by basketball historians as a top-20 player of all time.
The Lesson
As the saying goes, those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it, and that couldn’t be more apt for the Timberwolves’ situation in 2021. It’s been 61 years since the Lakers relocated to L.A., and we’re still force-fed rumors and threats of relocation. To be fair, Los Angeles looms much larger than Seattle. In terms of population, demographics, and TV market, Seattle is not significantly different from Minneapolis. But ultimately we Minnesotans have to start cherishing our NBA team if we want it to stay.
After years of championship pedigree and financial success with George Mikan, the Minneapolis Lakers began to fall into hardship with ticket sales dwindling (sound familiar?). When the Lakers drafted Elgin Baylor in 1958, he was seen as the last chance for the franchise’s survival in the frozen tundra. Ultimately, the ticket sales did not demonstrably change in the first two years of Baylor’s career. The Lakers were unable to generate a winning record, so Minneapolis businessman Bob Short expanded west, and the Los Angeles Lakers became the first NBA team on the West Coast.
Although Karl-Anthony Towns is here to help bear some of the load, Anthony Edwards also happens to be a 6’5”, 230-pound first overall draft pick with the fate of the franchise on his shoulders. Can the Timberwolves’ fan base rally behind this youngster and sell out the Target Center once everyone gets vaccinated? While we’re at it, why don’t we just buy the team ourselves?
Thank you for accompanying me in unlocking this shrine. Now that we’ve recovered our memory, hopefully this time we can be careful not to repeat history. Either way, Elgin Baylor was truly raised by Wolves, and that’s one banner Los Angeles can’t take from us now. Rest in peace, Elgin.
