Bill Sharman and the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers

Part 4

When NBA executives scoffed at Bill Sharman's plans to turn the Los Angeles Lakers soft and porous defense into a league-leading defense, one player fueled their skepticism. When outgoing Laker coach Joe Mullaney openly ridiculed talk of turning the Los Angeles Lakers slow and plodding offense into a fast-breaking machine, one player fueled his skepticism. When NBA pundits described the Lakers as a team whose championship aspirations had set with evening sun, they were thinking of one player.

Elgin Baylor.

In his day, Baylor was his era's Dr. J. He was his era's Michael Jordan. But in the fall of 1971, Elgin Baylor was 37-years-old, slowed by injuries, and a shadow of his former self. Speaking of shadows, he could barely guard his own or keep up with it on a fast break. During practice, Baylor typically loafed it, which meant that his team loafed it, which meant that his team lost the scrimmages. Practices sucked with Baylor on the floor.

During the first nine games of the 1971-72 NBA season, Baylor's numbers did not paint an accurate picture of his state of decline. In a little more than 20 MPGs, Baylor was averaging just under 12 PPG, just over 6 RPG, and exactly 2 APG. Not bad. But the Lakers were 6-3, and Baylor was getting abused on defense and preventing the offense from running. Worse, the Lakers had lost two games in a row, and Wilt wasn't showing up for the morning shootarounds. The team was undergoing a mild rebellion.

Sharman had seen enough. He went to Lakers' owner Jack Kent Cooke and told him that Baylor needed to "retire or be retired." Cooke didn't like the idea. Sharman said the alternative was to sit Baylor at the end of the bench for games and not use him in practice. Cooke eventually relented, but only after telling Sharman that he now had a target on his back, and the Lakers had better start playing winning Celtics' basketball like Sharman promised or the purple and gold would find a new coach.

So Baylor was offered a cushy job in the front office, and after much hemming and hawing, agreed to retire.

How did the Lakers respond?

Their practices were a little more lively and competitive.

Oh yeah.

One more thing.

They immediately busted off an NBA record 33 wins in a row.

Well, except for the game where the NBA conspired with the refs to give the Lakers a win over the Celtics to keep the streak alive for a showdown with the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks.

But we'll talk more about that tomorrow.