num_pages: 336
description: The definitive biography of the first dominant big man in professional basketball published on the sixtieth anniversary of his debut with the Minneapolis Lakers.Before Shaquille O'Neal and before Bill Russell there was George Mikan a six-foot-ten 240-pound center whose quiet demeanor and bespectacled face belied his competitive fire. A four-time All-American at DePaul and a six-time professional champion Mikan was such an unstoppable forceand a national sensationthat when his Minneapolis Lakers played the New York Knickerbockers in 1949 the marquee outside Madison Square Garden read simply George Mikan vs. Knicks. Drawing on extensive interviewswith former teammates opponents coaches friends and rivalscritically acclaimed author Michael Schumacher reveals for the first time a wonderfully nuanced portrait of one of the most unheralded athletes of our time and a fascinating look at the birth of the National Basketball Association.
language: English
title: Mr. Basketball: George Mikan, the Minneapolis Lakers & the Birth of the NBA
publisher: Bloomsbury USA