Obit: Baylor turned NBA into aerial show
Elgin Baylor changed the very direction of basketball when he joined the NBA and brought his vertical feats of athletic brilliance to a largely horizontal game.
He filled scoresheets and sparked young imaginations with his trailblazing aerial style, and every high-flying player of the past 60 years has followed his path.
Although the Lakers’ first superstar in Los Angeles never won a championship ring, Baylor still looms high above the franchise and the game he loved.
The Hall of Fame forward died Monday of natural causes in Los Angeles with wife Elaine and daughter Krystal by his side, the team said. He was 86.
An 11-time All-Star who soared through the 1960s with a high-scoring artistry that became the model for the modern basketball player, Baylor played a major role in revolutionizing basketball from a ground-bound sport into an aerial show.
“Elgin was THE superstar of his era — his many accolades speak to that,” Lakers owner Jeanie
Buss said in a statement.
With a silky-smooth jumper and fluid athleticism, Baylor spent parts of 14 seasons with the Lakers in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, teaming with Jerry West in one of the most potent tandems in basketball history.
West said: “I just learned so much from him about how to carry yourself as a player, a person. Most of all, the times we spent together after games. … Oh my God. The respect you gain for someone like him.”
ETC.
NFL: The NFL draft is ● back to being an in-person event. The league announced plans Monday for a live event in downtown Cleveland for the draft April 29 to May 1. Fans and a “select number” of draft-eligible players will attend. The league also said that teams’ coaches, general managers and others involved in the selection process will be permitted to gather in a draft room, either at teams’ facilities or elsewhere, with proper coronavirus protocols in place.
MLB: Jacob DeGrom ● kept up his strong spring for the Mets in a 6-2 win over the Nationals. Through 13 2⁄3 innings, he’s struck out 21 and has an 0.66 ERA. DeGrom will face Nationals ace
Max Scherzer on Opening Day at Washington.
Michael Conforto and
Francisco Lindor homered for New York . ...
Gerritt Cole struck out eight in five innings, allowing one run for the Yankees in an 8-3 win over the Blue Jays. Thairo Estrada homered for New York . ... Cleveland’s Opening Day starter
Shane Bieber struck out six in four scoreless innings against Texas.