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`The Original Big Man' dies at 80

Minneapolis Lakers' George Mikan, right, grabs a rebound in front of teammate Herman Schaefer during their BAA game against the Washington Capitols in this Jan. 31, 1949 file photo in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Jan. 31, 1949. PHOTO: AP

George Mikan, who led the former Minneapolis Lakers to five championships, died at a Scottsdale rehabilitation center, family members said on Thursday. He was 80.

Mikan had suffered from diabetes and kidney failure. One leg was amputated in 2000, and he recently was hospitalized for six weeks for treatment of a diabetes wound in the other leg. For the past five years, he had undergone kidney dialysis three times a week, 4 1/2 hours per session.

Last Saturday, he was moved from the hospital to the rehabilitation center, his son, Terry, said. He died on Wednesday.

"He had a fierce determination to excel, which he exhibited in his athletic career and business career," Terry Mikan told AP on Thursday, "and that probably extended his life five years."

At 2.09m, nearsighted with thick glasses, Mikan dominated the US pro game from the moment he arrived.

"George Mikan truly revolutionized the game and was the NBA's first true superstar," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "He had the ability to be a fierce competitor on the court and a gentle giant off the court. We may never see one man impact the game of basketball as he did, and represent it with such warmth and grace."

Mikan's Lakers won five NBA titles in the first six years of the franchise's history. A rough player, Mikan led the league in personal fouls three times and had 10 broken bones during his playing career. He averaged 23.1 points per game in seven seasons with Minneapolis before retiring because of injuries in 1956. Mikan was the league's MVP in the 1948-1949 season, when he averaged 28.3 points -- a phenomenal total in that era -- in leading the Lakers to the NBA title.

Shaquille O'Neal, speaking after Miami's playoff victory over Detroit on Thursday night, said he wanted the Mikan family to contact the Heat so he could pay for the funeral.

"Without No. 99, there is no me," O'Neal said.

Terry Mikan said he appreciated O'Neal's offer but said it would be up to his mother whether to accept it.

A private memorial service is planned in Scottsdale on Monday night. At some unspecified date, a public ceremony will be held in Minneapolis, where Mikan's ashes will be interred, Terry Mikan said.

"He obviously was the first of the real high-profile players," Boston Celtic great Bob Cousy said when told of Mikan's death. "He literally carried the league. He gave us recognition and acceptance when we were at the bottom of the totem pole in professional sports. He transcended the game. People came to see him as much as they came to see the game."

A statue was erected in honor of the NBA Hall of Famer at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

"When I think about George Mikan, I skip all the Wilt Chamberlains and Kareem Abdul-Jabbars and I call him the `The Original Big Man,'" current Minnesota star Kevin Garnett once said. "Without George Mikan, there would be no up-and-unders, no jump hooks, and there would be no label of the big man."

Vern Mikkelsen, Mikan's Hall of Fame teammate, once said: "It was certainly fair to say he was the Michael Jordan of his time, but I take it another step. He was Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, all rolled into one in our time.

"Everywhere we went, George was immediately recognized not just because he's tall but because he was immaculately dressed and he had the glasses on and he had a big smile on his face. He was inundated, absolutely inundated."

Teams and leagues were often short-lived in pro basketball's early days. Mikan's first title came with the National Basketball League, his second with the Basketball Association of America. The rest were with the NBA, formed when the two league's merged in 1949.

Mikan coached the Lakers for part of the 1957-1958 season, and was commissioner of the American Basketball Association in 1967, introducing the 3-point line and the distinctive red, white and blue ball.

In recent years, Mikan spoke out against the small pensions given to those who played in the league before 1965. Terry Mikan said most of his father's awards and memorabilia had been sold. Mikan received a monthly pension check of US$1,700, his son said.
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