We take another trip up north where the championship legacy all started
Part one of our list greatest Laker title teams highlighted the early days of the franchise in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Already gone off the list at 15 and 16 respectively are the 1952-53 and the 1953-54 Minneapolis Lakers in our list of the 16 Laker championship clubs.
Here is our second installment and it involves even the predecessors to the 52-54 clubs.
14. 1951-52 Minneapolis Lakers
The 1951-52 Lakers were the franchise’s third championship club.
However this was one year that the Lakers didn’t win the division. It was in fact the Rochester Royals finished one game better than the Lakers as they went 41-25.
The Lakers cruised in the first round against the third seeded Indianapolis Olympians as they beat them 2-0 in the series.
(Picture: Associated Press)
The Lakers went on to face the Royals in the West Finals, disposing them 3-1. The series was difficult as the Lakers had an overtime win and a two point triumph in game four.
In the Finals the Lakers bested the third-seeded New York Knicks in seven games.
George Mikan led the Lakers averaging 23.8 points and 13.5 rebounds. Jim Pollard averaged 15.5 points and Vern Mikkelsen (right) averaged 15.3 points.
Mikan was an All-NBA First Team member, while Mikkelsen and Pollard were on the All-NBA Second Team. The trio also made the All-Star Game.
13. 1948-49 Minneapolis Lakers
There’s nothing like the very first title.
It was the Lakers’ first season in the BAA (Basketball Association of America), which later became what is now the NBA (National Basketball Association).
Just like the 1951-52 season, the Lakers finished one game behind the Royals, who finished 45-15.
Minneapolis cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs against Chicago Stags and the Royals, winning both games of each series.
In the BAA Finals, the Lakers took on the Washington Capitols (not to be mistaken with the Capitals of the NHL), the one seed from the Eastern Division.
The Capitols were the one seed in the East with a 38-22 record, strangely the Lakers were six games better than them, but were a two seed in the tougher division. Despite the series having gone six games, the Lakers won three games by at least 14 points.
The Lakers were led by Mikan (left) and Pollard as they were both All-NBA First team members. Mikan averaged an astounding 28.3 points and 11.5 rebounds, while Pollard averaged 14.3 points.
Two more installments will be ready for next week. Who will be the first LA team to crack the list?
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