Breaking news on ESPN.com. RIP George Mikan, professional basketball's first dominant big man who led the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA championships, has died, family members said today. He was 80.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=2074317 NBA's first dominant big man dead at 80 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- George Mikan, professional basketball's first dominant big man who led the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA championships, has died, family members said Thursday. He was 80. Six-foot-10 with thick glasses, Mikan was so effective as a center at DePaul that he forced the NCAA to adopt the goaltending rule. Mikan had suffered from diabetes and kidney failure. One leg was amputated several years ago, and he recently was hospitalized for six weeks for treatment of a diabetes wound in the other leg. He also underwent kidney dialysis three days a week. Last Saturday, he was moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center, his son, Terry, said. He died Wednesday night, according to family members. Mikan's Lakers won five of the first six NBA titles after the league was formed in 1948. He averaged 23.1 points per game in seven seasons with Minneapolis before retiring because of injuries in 1956. Mikan was the league's MVP in its inaugural 1948-49 season, when he averaged 28.3 points in leading the Lakers to the NBA title. A statue was erected in honor of the NBA Hall of Famer outside the Target Center in Minneapolis. In recent years, Mikan has spoke out against the small pensions given to those who played in the league before 1965. Terry Mikan said most of his father's awards and memorabilia had been sold. Mikan received a monthly pension check of $1,000, his son said. ESPN did a story about him last month about how players that retired before 1965 got screwed on their pension benefits...guess it doesn't matter now... That's three of the 50 greatest gone, along with Pistol Pete and The Stilt...
More on Mikan from the AP: NBA’s first dominant big man dead at 80 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — George Mikan, professional basketball’s first dominant big man who led the Minneapolis Lakers to five NBA championships, has died, family members said Thursday. He was 80. Six-foot-10 with thick glasses, Mikan was so effective as a center at DePaul that he forced the NCAA to adopt the goaltending rule. Mikan had suffered from diabetes and kidney failure. One leg was amputated several years ago, and he recently was hospitalized for six weeks for treatment of a diabetes wound in the other leg. He also underwent kidney dialysis three days a week. Last Saturday, he was moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center, his son, Terry, said. He died Wednesday night, according to family members. Mikan’s Lakers won five of the first six NBA titles after the league was formed in 1948. He averaged 23.1 points per game in seven seasons with Minneapolis before retiring because of injuries in 1956. Mikan was the league’s MVP in its inaugural 1948-49 season, when he averaged 28.3 points in leading the Lakers to the NBA title. A statue was erected in honor of the NBA Hall of Famer outside the Target Center in Minneapolis. In recent years, Mikan has spoke out against the small pensions given to those who played in the league before 1965. Terry Mikan said most of his father’s awards and memorabilia had been sold. Mikan received a monthly pension check of $1,000, his son said. I'm not old enough to see Mikan play, but his impact on the game was tremendous. As the story says, he was the league's first great big man. He set the style of post play that paved the way for Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Hakeem and the rest.How many players have been so good that there have been rules changes just because of them, like Mikan and the goaltending rule? People don't know enough about the early stars of the NBA. The league doesn't have a lot of game footage from the '40s and '50s, and the whole idea of players from half a century ago doesn't interest most modern fans. It's sad that a mega-star like Mikan, who would have been a millionaire many times over if he had played today, had to finish his life in financial difficulty. I hope the league is planning to give him a proper tribute.
That's when you know you're one of the greats, when rules have to be altered or brought in to stop you.
saw him on sportscenter not oo long ago,he wa in bad shape and the pension of his era didnt help him nuch,he had to sell his awards and stuff, it was sad seeing hi in bad shape, too bad the lakers didnt offer to help. rip george
The real tragedy is that if he was born 20 years later, he could have scored with as many women as Wilt. He missed out on the free-love era.
say what you want about shaq the guy is classy after the heat won the game the first thing he said in his interview with tnt was that he sends his condolences out to the mikan family and he wants to pay for the funeral for all that mikan had done for him when they met out in la. never saw mikan play outside of old nba footage programs but nonetheless whenever anyone passes away i send out my prayers and best wishes. RIP
The NBA Players Association should treble the pensions for the pioneer players (those with enough active playing time and who retired prior to 1970). Without them there would be no millionaire players today. Does the union argue for this? No. Why? Because current players would have to pay for it out of their millions. They suddently become the "owners" in a tragic reversal of position. Afterall, Latrell Sprewell hardly can keep his family fed on $14M per year. George: You were great. Rest in peace for a life well done.
Before the game last night when they were doing a tribute to Mikan and panned to Shaq he looked genuinely affected.
Yeah, Shaq can be a real mindless goon sometimes, but in the end he's always finds a way to class it up. He went from insulting Yao's heritage in the media for a good laugh to becoming good friends w/ Yao's family, for example. He talks a lot of talk, but if you put him in his place, he gives you your due (he always talks about how Dream was the best big man he's played against). I have respect for Shaq. Moreso than anyone in the current Laker organization, that's for damned sure. But back to topic, HUGE loss when Mikan passed away, but his legacy lives on forever.
It's very sad to hear about Mikan passing away. He was the first superstar of the NBA and was the trendsetter for all the big men who followed him. Unfortunately he did not get the financial rewards and help that he so richly deserved. I hope the NBA will help veterans who need assistance in the new collective bargaining agreement.
Yes, the Laker org fouled up Mr. Mikan's era big time. They don't really count the Minneapolis Lakers as part of the franchise, and it's sick to think they honored those 5 champion members just recently knowing full well they're doing squat with their member's pensions.
I was watching Field of Dreams a while back and was wondering if they could ever make a movie like that for basketball because most youngsters need to know and appreciate the older legends. It occured to me that there wouldn't even be enough legends that have deceaced (not that I want more players to pass on or anything). But Pistol Pete, Wilt and now Mikan are the only legitimate superstars that I can think of right now that have passed on. Drazen Petrovic and Reggie Lewis are recent and they could probably throw in Hank Gathers and Len Bias even though they didn't play in the NBA. R.I.P. Goerge MIkan, hopefully he will be appreciated by everyone in every generation one day!
