LAND OF 10,000 LAKERS GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY OFFERS VIEWS OF LOS ANGELES’S SPRAWLING CITYSCAPE LAND OF 10,000 LAKERS 8
Los Angeles California is known as the Entertainment Capital of the World In the early 20th century a section of the city called Hollywood became the center of the motion picture industry and it continues to be the place where the majority of movies and TV shows are made Many of the celebrities who live and work there have been honored with shimmering stars laid in the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard Sports are an important part of L A s entertainment culture too and the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association NBA have always known how to put on a good show The Lakers moved to California in 1960 13 years after the team was formed more than 1,500 miles away in Minneapolis Minnesota Two Minnesota businessmen purchased the assets of the Detroit Gems a struggling National Basketball League NBL team for 15,000 in JERRY WEST 9
L A S HOLLYWOOD SIGN BECAME A WORLDWIDE ICON OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY 1947 They renamed it the Minneapolis Lakers as a nod to the state’s fabled 10,000 lakes But because the players on the Gems roster had been released from their contracts the Lakers started out with nothing more than a pile of used equipment and old uniforms Thanks to the Gems last-place finish the previous season the Lakers had the first pick in a special draft of players made available from the shortlived Professional Basketball League of America They used the pick to grab George Mikan a dominant 6-foot-10 center Under the direction of 31-year-old head coach John Kundla Mikan and star forward Jim The Kangaroo Kid Pollard led the Lakers to a 43 17 record and the NBL championship in 1948 The Lakers switched to the bigger more established Basketball Association of America BAA in 1948 and continued to wield control over that league as well They won the 1949 BAA championship and Mikan nicknamed Mr Basketball quickly gained recognition as a star George glorified in that I am number one feeling Pollard said That’s why he was so successful He wanted to be number one When the BAA merged with the NBL to form the NBA for the 1949 50 season the Lakers went along with the tide adding powerful 10
Signed by a Sportswriter Sid Hartman was a young sports reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune in 1947 He was a faithful fan of the local college team the University of Minnesota Gophers but he desperately wanted his town to have a professional basketball presence as well First he encouraged businessmen Ben Berger and Morris Chalfen to buy the Detroit Gems and move them to Minneapolis Then he offered a suggestion for the team’s name the Lakers in honor of the state’s 10,000 lakes and helped recruit players for the team He surprised everyone by helping sign Stanford University standout Jim Pollard the team’s first forward And he went above and beyond the call of duty to ink the tall and talented George Mikan as the team’s center Hartman had been asked to drive Mikan to the airport for his return flight to Chicago following an interview but Hartman didn’t want to let Mikan leave without signing with the Lakers I made sure to get lost on the way Hartman later said I drove north rather than south toward the airport It worked Mikan missed his flight and signed with the Lakers for 12,000 COURTSIDE STORIES Signed by a Sportswriter 11
