Los Angeles (AFP)
A basketball legend died Monday at the age of 86: Elgin Baylor, who played eight finals between 1958 and 1971 under the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers, without ever winning a single one.
Elgin Baylor died peacefully, surrounded by his wife Elaine and daughter Krystal, the Los Angeles franchise announced that he died.
Baylor was chosen by the Lakers in the 1958 draft, while the franchise was still based in Minneapolis.
From his first season in the NBA, this 1.96m winger had marked the spirits by scoring averages per game of 24.9 points, 15 rebounds and 4.1 assists, and was named rookie (best rookie) of the season.
It was the start of a brilliant career that ended in 1971, in which Baylor scored 23,149 points for an average of 27.4 per game.
The only downside: no NBA champion title won, despite eight finals, including three fiercely contested against Boston who had each time turned in favor of the Celtics.
Ironically, the Lakers won the NBA title at the end of the 1971/72 season, the one in which Baylor had to hang up after just nine games, due to knee problems.
But Baylor leaves with a record that still stands: that of the most points scored by a player in an NBA Finals game: 61 points, against the Boston Celtics in 1962.
His jersey stamped with the number 22 was hoisted in the hangers of the Staples Center, the legendary hall of the Lakers in front of which a statue in his effigy has been standing since 2018.
After his playing career, Baylor had coached the New Orleans Jazz from 1974 to 1979, before joining rival Los Angeles Clippers in 1986 as vice-president of basketball operations.
He stayed there until his retirement in 2008.
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