On November 15, 1960, Elgin Baylor scored 71 points against the Knicks
A huge player, but also a big loser as he did not win the title despite playing in eight finals, Elgin Baylor, who disappeared on March 22, 2021remains one of the legends and one of the great NBA stars of the 1960s, along with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
This elegant and aerial winger, the prototype of the “modern” player, achieved many big matches and legendary performances (61 points in the 1962 finala record that still stands). This was especially the case on November 15, 1960 during a trip to Madison Square Garden.
In front of 10,132 spectators and in the victory of Los Angeles, the football player of the Lakers scored 71 points against the Knicks (not to mention 25 rebounds)! It was an NBA record at the time, and the previous best mark was already held by Elgin Baylor, who scored 64 points against Boston in November 1959.
“That’s the greatest single performance I’ve ever seen” Ned Irish, president of the Knicks, said for the New York Post. “The first time I saw him in college, in Seattle, I walked out of the room thinking he was the best player I’d ever seen. We saw that tonight: I wasn’t wrong.”
Record erased by Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points
The fans present at this meeting especially pointed out that Elgin Baylor set a new record for Madison Square Garden with his performance.
The old one was still recent as it belonged to Wilt Chamberlain, then a rookie, who scored 58 points in New York in February 1960. When he passed it, the Lakers star received a standing ovation from the crowd.
“I was terribly nervous, like never before, when they announced that I had the record with 59 points,” says Elgin Baylor. “Before that moment, I wasn’t aware of any of this at all.”
The rest of the story is familiar: Elgin Baylor’s scoring record of 71 points would last “only” 472 days after Wilt Chamberlain scored on March 2, 1962 his 100-point masterpiecealways against the hapless Knicks.
2025-11-15 12:15:00
