George Mikan
George Mikan
George Lawrence Mikan, Jr., nicknamed Mr. Basketball, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball Leagueand the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of Americaand the National Basketball Association. Invariably playing with thick, round spectacles, the 6 ft 10 in, 245 poundsMikan is seen as one of the pioneers of professional basketball, redefining it as a game of so-called big men with his prolific rebounding, shot blocking, and his talent to shoot over...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth18 June 1924
CityJoliet, IL
I guess I've done just about everything in life people told me I wasn't able to do, ... I respond pretty well to somebody telling me there's something I can't do. I started wearing glasses when I was 12, and people told me then that anyone who wore glasses could never be a great athlete. And I always took a lot of taunts because I was so big. I was always being challenged as a kid, but I grew stronger, and ((the taunts)) stopped pretty fast. In college they laughed and said I'd trip over the foul line. After a while, that stopped too. I guess you could say I've always had a burning desire to be successful. I still do.
I had to learn to avoid stepping on (her) toes, and that made me more nimble on my feet,
Cheetahs are fast. They run 70 miles an hour, and our jersey numbers happen to start in the 70's.
Oh, I suppose so. But so far we haven't found anybody 6 ft. 10 in..
We have to prove that we're for real, that we're going to be around. I had to do that with the ABA, too, but I also had to fight the NBA. What's nice about roller hockey is that the NHL hasn't knocked us. It sees us as a continuation of its season.