This Day In Basketball History
1959 - Chicago granted NBA expansion franchise
The still fairly new National Basketball Association expands from eight teams to nine with the addition of the Chicago Packers, who begin play in the 1961-62 season, joining the Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, St. Louis Hawks and Cincinnati Royals in the Western Division (Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Syracuse make up the East).
The Packers become the Zephyrs in 1962, move to Baltimore and become the Bullets in 1962. They continue to evolve over time (Capital Bullets, Washington Bullets) until eventually settling on the Washington Wizards.
The franchise goes a pitiful 43-117 during two seasons in Chicago, but the Windy City gets a new team - the Bulls - just a few years later in 1966.
Birthdays
1934 - Elgin Baylor
Elgin Baylor goes on to enjoy a Hall-of-Fame career that sees the small forward of a bygone era average 40.0 minutes, 27.4 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists over 14 seasons with the Lakers, making 11 All-Star appearances and 10 All-NBA First Teams.
Baylor never wins a championship with the Minneapolis/L.A. franchise, however, as the Lakers lose in the finals eight times during his tenure (seven times to the Celtics, once to the Knicks) and he retires nine games into L.A.'s championship season of 1971-72 due to knee issues.
The Lakers also begin an NBA-record 33-game winning streak immediately after Baylor's final game.
Talk about bad timing.