Title/Author:
“Elgin Baylor: The Man
Who Changed Basketball” by Bijan C. Bayne
Tags:
Basketball, professional,
biography, Lakers
Publish date:
August 13, 2015
Length:
292 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
Elgin Baylor was one
of the first true superstars of the NBA, with his best years coming during the
late 1950’s and early1960’s for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers This
biography of the man by Bijan C. Bane is the most complete book about
Baylor. It is a well-researched and well
written account of Baylor’s entire basketball career.
His style of play was
considered to be unusual at time, as he was playing above the rim often and
making spectacular passes to teammates for easy baskets. That doesn’t mean he didn’t score himself – while
he never won the scoring title, he did not finish lower than sixth in the
league during each complete season he competed.
Bayne captures the spirit of Baylor’s game with exciting accounts of the
skills he would show off. Here is one
account of what Baylor could do from the 1962 All-Star game: “A third drive
demonstrates Baylor’s yen for improvisation, as he drives the right side, is
challenged by East All-Star forward Tommy Heinson, and takes to the air, bringing
the basketball down to protect it and then releasing it for the layup as he
clears the defender.” Like Baylor’s game, the book is filled with beautiful
passages similar to this one.
Baylor also stood up
for civil rights and was outspoken about fair treatment for African-American
players in the NBA. At the time, it was
widely speculated that each team followed an unwritten quota of no more than
three African-American players on each team. There were the struggles of
segregation for hotels and eating establishments. But the best account of what Baylor did for
this movement was the stand that he and several other African-American players
took before the 1964 All-Star game when they refused to play unless the league
could guarantee them a pension.
Eventually their demands were met.
Bayne writes about this aspect of Baylor’s life with the same attention
to detail as he does with the action on the court.
Baylor did remain in
the game after his playing career ended, serving as head coach of the New
Orleans (now Utah) Jazz and also as the general manager of the Los Angeles
Clippers. He did not have the same
success here as he did as a player and as a result, the book does not talk
about this aspect of his career as much as his playing days.
Nonetheless, this is an outstanding book on a man that is often overlooked when the greatest players in the history of the game are mentioned. While that is a shame, this book does justice to show that Baylor truly is one of the game’s elite players and the reader will come away with much respect for both Elgin Baylor the player and the man.
Book Format Read:
E-book (EPUB)
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