Elgin Baylor to be immortalized outside STAPLES Center with statue

The Los Angeles Lakers will add yet another statue outside of STAPLES Center. The team announced on Friday that Lakers legend Elgin Baylor will be getting his own statue Friday, April 6, almost 47 years after his last played game.

Baylor will join Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Chick Hearn, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and the recently added Shaquille O’Neal as the only Lakers with a statue in Los Angeles. He will also join other Los Angeles sports icons like Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Bob Miller and Oscar De La Hoya.

The Lakers, STAPLES Center and AEG organizations commissioned the creation of the 1,500-pound bronze statue that will stand nearly over 12-feet tall outside of STAPLES Center. The statue was created by sculptors/artists Julie Rotblatt Amrany and Omri Amrany, who also sculpted Shaq’s enormous statue.

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The Lakers selected Baylor with the No. 1 pick in the 1958 NBA draft. He spent the entirety of his illustrious 14-year career with the Lakers and was even with the team when they made the move from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960.

His career accolades include Rookie of the Year, 11-time NBA All-Star, 10-time All-NBA and NBA All-Star MVP. Baylor made the Finals eight times in his career, but never won a championship with the Lakers. He retired nine games into the 1971-1972 season after dealing with lingering knee issues and just a few months later Lakers would win their first championship in Los Angeles.

Baylor was inducted in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977 with career averages of 27.4 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

The ceremony will take place on Friday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public.