Depending on your reference point, the NBA either started in 1946 as the BAA, or in 1949, when the BAA merged with the NBL to make the NBA.
However, the league at that point was pretty stale. It began to change in the late 1950s, with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. It would change a great deal with the addition of Elgin Baylor in 1958.
Baylor entered the league after a terrific career at Seattle, and was an immediate success for the Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 24.9 ppg, 15.o rebounds, and 4.1 assists.
He became the prototype of a highly athletic wing, a role that would evolve with players like Connie Hawkins, Julius Erving, and Michael Jordan. This video underscores how he revolutionized the NBA.
He also helped lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals, where they would lose to Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics, starting the foundational rivalry of the NBA.
In 1960, the Lakers would move to Los Angeles and also draft Jerry West, thus setting up one of the most iconic duos in NBA history.
Baylor and the Lakers would lose to Boston in the Finals seven times before he retired early in the 1971-72 season.
Ironically, after he retired, Los Angeles would go on an epic 33-game win streak, and then would win the title for the first time since 1954.
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