Los Angeles Lakers: 30 greatest individual performances in team history

Los Angeles Lakers: 30 greatest individual performances in team history: 8. George Mikan scores ridiculous double-double

Despite being a three-time scoring champ, multiple-time All-Star and a Hall of Famer, George Mikan is practically never given all-time status. His career wasn’t an incredibly long one, lasting only seven years, but what he was able to do during his relatively brief window was about as good as it gets.

Before Wilt Chamberlain came around and shattered the record books for all big men, Mikan was dominating the competition. And during a regular season game in January of 1952, Mikan took things to another level.

The Lakers hadn’t made their move to Los Angeles yet as they resided in Minneapolis. Sauntering into town were the Rochester Royals, now known as the Sacramento Kings. Mikan absolutely destroyed them as he dropped 61 points and grabbed 36 rebounds as the Lakers pulled off the win in double overtime. Only Wilt Chamberlain grabbed more boards than Mikan as a member of the Lakers in a single game.

An underrated stat from his historic night was the fact that he knocked in 17 of his 21 free throw attempts, good for 81%. No one on his squad that night outside of Slater Martin, who only scored 10, had double digits. It was all Mikan who dominated the night and the league but seldom gets credit for it.