Skip to content
Advertisement

Lakers honor Elgin Baylor with statue at Staples Center

Advertisement
 (255025)

Lakers legend Elgin Baylor will be honored with a statue in Star Plaza outside Staples Center, the team announced this week, honoring a hall-of-fame career that stretched 14 years between both Minneapolis and Los Angeles.

“I am thrilled that 60 years after the Minneapolis Lakers drafted Elgin, we are able to celebrate and honor him with a statue,” said Jeanie Buss, Lakers CEO and president. “Not only is Elgin a part of the Lakers family, his contributions to the game of basketball earned him a place in the Hall of Fame. His list of accomplishments are unparalleled and I can’t wait to see his statue at Star Plaza, alongside other Lakers legends.”

The statue will be unveiled during an April 6 ceremony prior to the Lakers game against the Minnesoita Timberwolves.

Baylor, now 83, was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1958, earning rookie-of-the-year honors to set the stage for a stellar career, which saw him average 27.4 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

He was named an NBA All-Star 11 times, and he was a 10-time first-team All-NBA selection. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977, and the Lakers retired his #22 jersey in 1983.

Baylor’s statue will join those of other sports luminaries outside Staples Center—former Lakers Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and former Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn, boxer Oscar De La Hoya, former Los Angeles Kings Luc Robitaille and Wayne Gretzy and Kings broadcaster Bob Miller, whose statue was unveiled on Jan.13.

Advertisement

Latest