Although the Lakers symbolically gave Baylor a championship ring after winning the championship in 1971-1972, Baylor's championship honor was a bit weak because he only played 9 regular season games for the team.
Although the championship honor is a bit vain, the color of the Baylor superstar is complete.
Lakers savior
After super center McCann retired, the Lakers were in trouble, and in the 1957-58 season, they were at the bottom of the regular season rankings, fortunately they got the top pick.
In 1958, the Lakers signed Baylor with a sign, and he proved himself in his rookie season. He averaged third in the league, fourth in rebounds per game and eighth in assists per game. He also had a super performance of 55 points in a single game, not only that, he also led the Lakers to the Finals, but finally lost to the powerful Celtics led by Russell.
At the same time, he won the best rookie, was selected as an All-Star, and won the All-Star MVP (shared with Petit).
Since then, the Lakers with Baylor have got rid of their fish belly identity and transformed into a strong team in the league and become a regular in the playoffs.
Playoffs 61 points
In the 1959-60 season, Baylor led the Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals, ultimately losing to the Hawks.
In the 1960-61 season, Baylor scored 71 points in one game, a record that was broken by Chamberlain's 100 points the following year. In the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers lost again to the Hawks.
In the 1961-62 season, the Lakers reached the Finals again, against the Celtics. In Game 5 of the Finals, Baylor scored 61 points, a record that no one has broken so far. In 1986, jordan scored 63 points in the playoffs, but not on the stage of the Finals.
The Uncrowned King
In the 1962-63 season, the Lakers met the Greens in the playoffs for two consecutive years, and this time the Lakers lost again.
In the 1963–64 season, Baylor began to suffer knee injuries, which were also the culprits of Baylor's retirement. Although Baylor did not cause a serious decline in competitive form due to this injury, he is indeed no longer at the top.
Coupled with the fact that the league had super centers like Russell and Chamberlain at that time, although the Lakers were still able to reach the finals, they were always unable to compete with the championship.
In the 1970–71 season, Baylor played only two games and missed all the games due to a knee injury.
In the 1971-72 season, Baylor returned to play 9 games, but because of the knee injury could not be overcome, the 37-year-old Baylor had no choice but to announce his retirement. Fate is always so tricky, after Baylor retired, the Lakers reached the Finals that season and won the championship.
Originally, according to the rules, the Lakers did not have Baylor in the list of championship members, but the team symbolically gave him a championship ring in order to comfort him.