10 Greatest Players in Los Angeles Lakers Franchise History

#8 George Mikan

George Mikan

George Mikan was arguably the first superstar of the NBA. In a short but incredibly successful NBA career which lasted 7 years, Mikan won 5 titles and led the league in scoring for the first 3 seasons. He was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in the inaugural season of the NBA and immediately began asserting his dominance.

Mikan led the Lakers to back to back titles in 1949 and 50, only falling short of a three-peat because he fractured his foot in the 1951 playoffs. His dominance over the league meant a few rule changes were put in place, like widening the lane to ensure that bigs like Mikan now had to post up from double the distance.

The changes had little impact, as the Lakers won 3 titles in a row from 52-54, achieving the first three-peat in NBA history. He retired after the 5th title and that was it for the Lakers who wouldn't win another championship till the 70s. Mikan did make a brief return to the team in 1956, but he was past it by then and retired once again after just 40 games.

Mikan was a pioneer of big man basketball and the Mikan Drill is taught to every big man to help them develop rhythm and timing for rebounding and scoring in the paint.