Mikan, George Lawrence

George Lawrence Mikan (mĬk´ən), 1924–2005, American basketball player, b. Joliet, Ill. After leading De Paul Univ. to the 1945 National Invitational Tournament title and being named All-American three times (1944–46), he played (1948–54, 1955–56) for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and led them to five championships from 1949 to 1954. The first dominant "big man" in the NBA and a key figure in the rise of professional basketball, Mikan subsequently became a lawyer and was later (1967–69) the first commissioner of the rival American Basketball Association.

See biography by M. Schumacher (2007).

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Publication information: Article title: Mikan, George Lawrence. Encyclopedia title: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. © 2012 The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All Rights Reserved. Publisher: The Columbia University Press. Place of publication: Not available. Publication year: 2013.

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