Watching George Mikan video on Youtube, he looks more athletic
than I would have believed.
Still, by 1955-1956, when he attempted a comeback after
taking a year off, the speed of the game had already passed by the NBA’s first
big star. It’s hard to imagine how we would be successful in today’s game. But
he was perhaps the reason the NBA survived long enough for players such as
Elgin Baylor and Julius Erving to keep building the game into what it is today.
Mikan was difficult to fit into this system. Player
Efficiency Rating is only calculated back to 1951-1952. Win shares goes back
further. I included 1950-1951 (even without PER) because Mikan’s score wasn’t “off
the charts” and that would give him another season. Also, there were no MVP
votes back in his day, depriving him of those bonus points as well.
Even with those challenges, he was so dominant in the few
years I could calculate that he’ll be a fixture in this top 100 for decades. He
led the league in PER the first three years it was calculated and in win shares
the first three years of his career – although only one of those count in my system.
In the playoffs, he again led the league in playoff PER the first three years
it was calculated and in playoff win shares five out of his eight seasons. In
1953-1954, his playoff PER of 33.6 remains the third highest ever, behind just
Hakeem Olajuwon in 1988 and LeBron James in 2009.
In terms of dominance, he was Wilt and Russell before Wilt
and Russell.
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George
Mikan bio info
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Career
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1948-1956*
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Games
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439
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Points
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23.1
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Rebounds
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13.4
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Assists
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2.8
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FG Pct.
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40.4%
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All-Star games
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4
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NBA MVPs
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0
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NBA Titles
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5
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Playoff seasons
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7
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Playoff games
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70
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Points
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24.0
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Rebounds
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13.9
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Assists
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2.2
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FG Pct.
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40.4%
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Hall of Fame
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1959
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Top 100
rankings
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Points
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Top 100 ranking
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1-year
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366.23
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30th
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5-year
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1,598.02
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30th
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10-year
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1,598.02
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Not in top 100
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Career
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1,598.02
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Not in top 100
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George
Mikan at his peak
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1952-1953
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Mikan
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Top 5
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Points
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PER
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28.5
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25.48
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Win Shares
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14.6
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13.91
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Box +/-
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NA
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NA
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VORP
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NA
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NA
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Total Advanced Stats
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43.1
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39.38
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109.44
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Playoff PER
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26.2
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23.44
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Win Shares
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2.0
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1.47
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Box +/-
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NA
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NA
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VORP
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NA
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NA
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Total Advanced Stats
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28.2
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24.91
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113.22
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Reg. Season Win %
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68.57
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68.57
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Playoff Win %
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75.00
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75.00
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MVP Voting (75 points)
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NA
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NA
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Playoff MVP (25 points)
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NA
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NA
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Total Score
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366.23
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Mikan’s 10 greatest seasons
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1952-1953
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366.23
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1953-1954
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361.96
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1951-1952
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356.86
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1950-1951
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304.14
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1955-1956
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208.84
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Career
winning percentage
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W
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L
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Pct.
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Regular Season
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197
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114
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63.34%
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Playoffs
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31
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17
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64.58%
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Mikan retired at age 31. If he played only one more year, we could have seen him against Russell and had a better idea of how good he was. ... The Harlem Globe Trotters beat his NBA teams his first two seasons.
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