Why The Lakers Left Minneapolis
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- čas přidán 3. 12. 2023
- A video exploring the fall of the Minneapolis Lakers after George Mikan left the team, and how the franchise almost folded.
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#nba #lakers #losangeles #minnesota - Sport
A great thing about George Mikan is that he was a winner both on and off the basketball court. After retiring from playing hoops, he eventually succeeded as a lawyer in corporate and real estate law, purchasing and renovating buildings in Minneapolis. George was also the first-ever commissioner of the ABA, serving from 1967-1969. And finally, he successfully played a role in returning the NBA to Minneapolis, with the creation of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
George Mikan gave his heart and soul to the game of basketball, and it was great to see the sport give back to him in return.
And the LA Lakers finally retired his number!
@danbratten3103 there's been an unwritten NBA rule for 70 years that no team would issue his 99. Only the Celtics ignore the rule. They've issued the number 5 times since Mikan's retirement.
@@PoliticusRex632 I didn't know that. Thank you for letting me know. I just didn't like the fact that the Lakers claimed the Minneapolis championships without his jersey number officially and publicly retired like the rest of the Laker greats.
@danbratten3103 Mikan at one point refused having his number retired by the Lakers unless they retired Pollard, Mikkelsen and Martin's as well.
@@PoliticusRex632 I didn't know that either. Just when I think I already really respect a guy, I learn more things about him and respect him even more. Thank you 👍🏻
7:53 Fun fact: Bud Grant (the guy in the middle), a Pro Football Hall of Famer and Viking legend was also played for the Lakers in Minneapolis from 1949 to 1951.
Underrated basketball channel. You should be in the same tier as Andy Hoops.
I love Andy!
Andy Hoops
Same I love Andy Hoops
If you don't like Andy Hoops you can't be a real life person.. I love Andy Hoops..
@@therealityofitall4819he annoys me. He makes good content but I don’t like him for some reason I can’t figure out which is usually a me problem I’ve learned
The Lakers still should've changed their name immediately after leaving Minnesota; something film related. Team names should fit in to the cities that they are located in.
L A Lakers rolls smoothly off the tongue. Besides, other teams have moved and kept their names [Hawks, Kings, Clippers, Nets, Dodgers, Giants, Braves, Athletics, Rams, Cardinals, Colts].
@@gregb6469 They all should've changed them immediately when they moved like the Thunder did.
@@MoneyC225 -- Or even better, they shouldn't have moved in the first place!
@@gregb6469 Agreed.
@@gregb6469Warriors as well. That team was actually originated in Philadelphia before they moved to San Francisco.
That was an absolutely great story. It’s too bad the Lakers took the name with them to LA. Although the name sticks out like a sore thumb, it’s probably one of the most iconic names for a team to go along with the Yankees and the Cowboys, so they won’t be dropping it anytime soon if at all.
Great story..its segments like these that i enjoy..
Greetings from New England.☘️
🤟🏀🤙..
Great video! I didn't realize the Lakers almost got Bill Russell. I saw in a George Mikan video that Bill Russell said he met George Mikan whilenhe was in high school. Mikan told Russell that Russell would go to college and then come play for the Lakers. It almost came true. Russell always highly respected Mikan from that point on.
Thank you for posting this. I'm a 76ers fan but I totally appreciate the NBA history.
Fascinating. I grew up a Lakers fan in the 60s, but didn’t know the backstory of their move. Elgin Baylor was my favorite player. Before Dr. J his moves were gravity defying. Thanks for sharing
It was players like Elgin Baylor to force the league/Coaches to rid themselves of the stiff mechanical type playing and get more fluid. Jerry West also epitomized that.
I had a couple of friends in college who were from Minnesota. I was one of them if it was true that Minnesota had 10,000 lakes. She said, "No, it's actually closer to 27,000." Definitely not the answer I was expecting.
The 10,000 are actual Lakers. The rest are either artificial or too small or recently made. So, yes 10k Lakers are the real deal
@@401OrishasThis is not true, though depending on what size floor used the number ranges from about 12000-21000.
I believe minnesota requires a body of water to be at least an acre to be considered a lake. This is a lot larger than most states and the reason why they only have around 12,000.
If they classified lakes like other states, they would have 20k or more
There is a forgotten story on why Minneapolis's NBA team was called the Lakers.
During WW2, there were these large ships going up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway, carrying agricultural products. These huge ships were known as Lakers.
There’s actually two types of these ships: Lakers obviously stick to the Great Lakes; while Salties are oceangoing vessels.
Tnx for the trivia 🎉🙏
Also, Minnesota is "The Land of 10,000 Lakes."
Minneapolis is called the City of Lakes
Minneapolis is a long way from Duluth and Lake Superior.
I like to say that our state helped contribute to LA’s current tie in NBA Championships!
Go Timberwolves!
Thx btw
As it would turn out, the Minneapolis Lakers were far from being the only franchise to relocate and, in some cases, even change the name of the team. The only two teams from that era that have remained in their original locations from the 1946-47 season are the Boston Celtics and the NY Knicks. There's lots of interesting historical information on the origins of many of the franchises who have relocated, such as the ones mentioned in the video, the St.Louis Hawks, the Ft. Wayne Pistons, and the Syracuse Nationals.
The Hawks were originally out of Buffalo NY & were known as the Bisons. From there they moved to Moline IL & were christened the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. They then moved to Milwaukee & their name was shortened to Hawks. From there they moved to St Louis. Whew!!
You got me, wonderful content...the rest is not just history but amazing emotions! 💜💛
That Iowa corn field story is nuts!
When you dance with the devil you will get your toes stepped on. I belief their survival was contributed by someone’s prayer countering what could’ve been a real tragedy! The cornfield was that answer I believe!
This is why I love history. It’s full of information that fills in the blanks you’ve been wondering about for years! BTW, I, sadly remember their 1st championship against my Knicks. We blew them out in game 1 only to be swept the next 4. That was a fine “How do you do”!
Old Minnesnowtan here in the Philippines. Fond memories of listening to the Lakers, and Sid Hartman, on WCCO radio.
Excellent video, without fail all of these stories about the early days of professional sports leagues include all sorts of ridiculous events, rivalries and shenanigans that could never happen today.
Man, hearing Sid Hartman's name brings me back, not that I'm THAT old. He died just a few years ago, at a cool 100 years old. By the time I really knew who he was, he was a crotchety old sports journalist with outdated ideas. I knew he played some sort of role with the Lakers, but had no idea it was as big as it was. I mean, he was just a journalist as far as I knew.
Good video!
Once upon a time, LA was a booming town so it was a great move out west. Being born and raised in LA, We have been blessed with this storied franchise, thanks Twin Cities!
Lakers suck
@@evog35viii 🤣Go find some hole to cope in loser.
I heard about the near plane crash, but never heard about the Oujia Board story.
great video, cant wait to see what all you have in store for me
I’m near confident that the average Lakers fan nowadays doesn’t even know the team was originally in Minneapolis.
The team has worn the MPLS jerseys
@@cheaboiMWA Okay? I think they’ve worn them twice in 65 years to commemorate their original city since being in LA. 😂
Actually playing games on neutral courts were quite common in the NBA until the early 70s. There were many doubleheaders played in different NBA cities. With two different matchups between four teams. The second game of the doubleheader always featured the home team.
Also, single games were played on neutral courts in non-NBA cities. Don’t forget that Wilt Chamberlain scored his 100 points in one game in Hershey Pennsylvania.
This is sucha a great video man. Basketball junkie. first time in years were i truly felt I was being educated. Cheers
man I have watched tons of docs, sports, history, you name it... this was a 10! thank you! you did an amazing job on this, I had never heard the Ouija board and plane story and it was riveting!
Thank you!
Interesting you had a photo of Bud Grant as coach of the Vikings, but didn't mention he also played for the Minneapolis Lakers.
I actually did record that fact but there was some weird audio glitch that ruined my take!
Great video! Love watching ur content
Definitely a nice intro. Love the Castlevania. Also I would like to know why did they change the uniform from the yellow and the sky blue that they wore in Minneapolis when they moved to LA. They had the nice white and light blue that became famous when Kobe started wearing it sometimes during Laker games. That was a beautiful jersey by the way, representing the Minneapolis Lakers. And of course Jack Kent cook because he wanted the hockey team. He took the colors of the Los Angeles Kings. The purple and the gold became their traditional jersey after that.
Absolutely wonderful video!!!
Well done. Thanks
Love these vids
You got a sub. Really good research and well put together
I subscribed after I saw the Randy Smith dunk that starts the montage intro. Always a Buffalo Brave.
No 1 can imagine Los Angeles without the Lakers now lol
I can
@@evog35viii There's always some weirdo in LA.
Ain’t no lakes like Minnesota in Los Angeles.
@@supermcfly100I ain’t even trying to make a joke. But I asked Syri a year or two ago how many lakes are in California and she started naming them. They are all man made.
@@goskateminnesota7256 wow. Fake lakes is wild
Even though I know nothing about the NBA or basketball, I enjoy these videos.
WATCH
Very good video, I'm usually very critical
Great work man
Fantastic video! Learned a lot. Don’t know about the Detroit Gems. Mikan, the OG GOAT
because the same reasons the rams returned to LA ,money
also they changed the key to the lane because of Miken
Good video. Bob Short is also the guy that moved the Washington Senators baseball team to Dallas to become the Texas Rangers.
Worst owner in Washington, DC sports history, ran the team into the ground, jacked up ticket prices which cost DC 34 years without Major League Baseball.
Thanks Bud . !
I'll give you a 'like' just for the Castlevania music at the beginning, and I don't really even like basketball. Classy.
Nice intro 🔥
Amazing !
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
nicely researched
Minneapolis: 5 time Champions.
Los Angeles: 11 NBA Championships, (1) Mickey Mouse ring and (1) In Season Tournament. 😆 🤣 😂 😹
We actually won 6 not 5. The greedy nba elites would only recognize 5.
Aloha Hays ! Great breakdown. I just did a Show on the Lakers and one on Abe Saperstein where I show his autograph. I've also shown my Dads programs from that first ever game on the west coast. I was just talking about Tom Hawkins and Jim Krebs. I did not know Krebs was such a character.
I like how Hot Rod turned down the offer to be the first white Globetrotter. Great channel Hays
Awesome!
Hey, Uncle Hays. Cool video! I visited Echo Park before. Cool place and the lake is nice.
I didn't know the Lakers had its origins as Detroit Gems. It amazed me how one game had only six attendees. Wow.
I heard of George Mikan but didn't know much about his teammates, so it was great learning about them (and learning more about Mikan).
I didn't know of the Lakers-Celtics deal. I couldn't picture Russell as a Laker.
Wow! I didn't hear of Ouija board story or of Krebs before. I can't imagine how frightening the flight was. I'm glad the plane landed safely.
You gave a great overview of the struggles the Lakers had and their history. I learned a lot. I like learning about NBA history and hadn't learned much about its early decades, so I enjoy videos like yours. Kudos. :]
Thank you!
@@unclehays750 Anytime :) Keep up the awesome work! :) Take care.
As of yesterday it’s 17.5 champions
Los Angeles Lakers not as ridiculous as the Utah Jazz. (but close).
Thanks for this one. I caddied at the country club where Mikan was a member. Was in his 4 some once that I can remember. I thought it was wrong that L. A. kept the Laker name.
Great video. Glad you didn't use an AI to narrate this.
Just happened to stumble on this. I am very good friends with John Castellani’s great nephew, Rick. Their family are super athletes. Rick and his brother, Jim both played college baseball. Jim’s son was recently being looked at by some scouts (baseball)
One of the best opening sequences IMHO.
Not that I'm complaining but Uncle Hayes why do you play the music from Castlevania III in your video. I'm curious 🙂
As a Minnesotan, this is so frustrating. Wish we could have kept them here.
People were built different back then
Yeah, I just subbed 🏀 🏀
Appreciate it!
"And the Minnesota Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes"-Baseketball
With 5 championships
There’s one big lake in L.A.
@@brianarbenz1329 It is man made. Artificial and was only done not long ago
You can say the same thing when the New Orleans Jazz moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where there is no jazz music.
Salt Lake Lakers? LA Jazz?
Jerry West was pulling up on his shot like they are doing today. Didn't know he was that good.
Is this the same Bob Short who went on to buy the Washington Senators and move them to Texas where they became the Texas Rangers in MLB?
Yes.
@@armorybrunotjr.3204 Thanks.
Even people in Minnesota forget we had the White Sox too, long long ago. They were the original St.paul Saints before moving to Chicago in the early 1900's
10:28
Bob Short has an especially cold place in my heart because a little over a decade later, he moved the Washington Senators to Texas, broke my father's heart, and left my hometown without baseball for 33 year. Fukkin' hate that guy.
Can you do how good was the 70s Denver Nuggets
I gotta know where you heard the story about Sid Hartman inventing tanking. I need to know more about this.
At one point when I became a Lakers fan in the old Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich days, I thought the name came from the acronym L.A.-er, and added a “k” just to make it catchy.
Professional sports sure has changed alot.
The Detroit Gems was one of the greatest teams. The problem was the coaching and management
Have you been to Minneapolis in the winter?
Dope story I’m born in MN an I know the Lakers was in are city but didn’t know the story
Detroit Gems
Minnesota may have 10,000 lakes, but there are 13 within the city limits of Minneapolis alone (plus 9 other ponds of various sizes).
Do you have the full film of the Celtics vs Minneapolis Lakers?
Got a chance as a lad to see them play the Celtics in the Boston Garden with their new young star Elgin Baylor!
Lakers good name la=Lakers
In my view, Jerry West MADE the LA Lakers! He teamed with Gail Goodrich to make a truly dynamic duo!
I always wondered why they kept the Lakers name, when it's Minnesota, not LA, that is known for having many lakes. Likewise, the New Orleans Jazz makes sense, but Utah Jazz? Crazy. In the NFL, when the Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee, they only kept the Oilers moniker for a couple of seasons before changing it to the Titans, because Tennessee is not widely known as an oil-rich place like Houston is.
This explains why the LA Lakers only 12 NBA titles. Not 17.
@0:30 my guy that’s what we call a pond
I'm a Celtics fan and this video almost won me over
Nice video, however you showed the Minneapolis Armory but the Lakers actually played at the Minneapolis Auditorium.
They occasionally played in the Armory.
bob short also owned Washington senators/Texas rangers baseball team.
Why was Los Angeles able to use the Lakers name?
LA Stars or LA Bears? State logo or state notoriety?
They needed Jackie moon to turn things around. Also, it’s sad the Minnesota lost two cool team names. Lakers and north stars are better than their current names and some of the best in nhl and nba.
Minnesota could have the best group of team names including the Vikings & twins if the original teams didn’t leave.
Because it was cold.
Now i know what a laker is.😊
Minnesota also lost the “Stars” hockey team to Dallas. I’m surprised the Minnesota Vikings haven’t been bought yet by a bigger city. Hawaii Vikings sounds good.
Too many Scandinavians here to ever let the Vikings go. SKOL!
It is cold
Boo Lakers. Go Celtics!
Do a video "Why the Lakers left Detroit"
WAIT... the pilot's could OPEN their windows AND look out them in the air??
If the Lakers have not pick Los Angeles as there new home base after Minneapolis, they would had called Kansas City,MO home
Ya know why nobody cares to remember that the Lakers used to be called the Detroit Gems?
Because we didn’t steal a moniker that is/was synonymous with a different city.
Great story! Many fans don't know the history of their team, and organizations like the Hawks, the Royals, the Warriors and the Syracuse Nationals probably don't realize that their teams didn't start in the cities they play in now!
I bet they know more than your assumption.
If the Lakers had not move to L.A and stayed in Minneapolis ?
No Wilt no Kareem no Shaq no LeBron because the main reason why they went to the Lakers was Los Angeles , without Hollywood this franchise would have been maybe good by not great like now
L.A carried a lot the Lakers franchise
The Twins won 2 World Series, and the Vikings made 4 Super Bowls. And all this with no Hollywood.
L.A. Lakers only have 12 titles.
I wish people would stop saying they have 17.
22 Lakes in LA lets go
Why was the Hearse there? Why?
It may have had something to do with the fact that a plane had crashed.
Wow, it all makes sense now: the Lakers hate dates back decaaaaades. They said, “if we stay in Minn. we’ll die!” And the other owner(s) responded, “then you’ll die.” Then the Lakers finally moved to LA and the rest is history 😂