Six Points that Changed History

At the end of the 1955-56 NBA season, the Minneapolis Lakers and St. Louis Hawks were tied at 33-39, four games behind the Fort Wayne Pistons in the Western Division. In the Eastern Division, the Knicks and Nats were tied at 35-37, third in the East. The NBA then held one-game playoffs to break the two ties. In the East, only the winner (the Nats) would qualify for the postseason. Out West, both teams would make the playoffs and play each other in the first round; the winner of the playoff game would earn home-court advantage for the series. In both cases, the playoff losers would be compensated with a higher draft pick in the 1956 draft.

On March 16 in St. Louis, the Lakers defeated the Hawks 103-97. The home-court advantage did not help Minneapolis in their subsequent series, as they lost 2-1 to St. Louis; a pair of 116-115 losses sandwiched around a 133-75 thrashing of the Hawks. St. Louis had won the regular season series over Minneapolis 7-5, and the playoff series 2-1, but their loss in the one-game playoff entitled them to draft second in the draft, one slot ahead of the Lakers. As a result, the Hawks were in position to trade their pick to the Celtics for center Ed Macauley and swingman Cliff Hagan; the Celtics selected Bill Russell.

But what if the Lakers had been selecting second? There was no Celtics-Lakers rivalry in those days - the Celtics had never even reached the finals while the Lakers had won multiple titles - so it is possible Red Auerbach could have convinced the Lakers to make a similar deal.

The Lakers already had Clyde Lovellette at center, who had improved steadily during his first three seasons, and posted what would end up as his career highs in points (21.5) and rebounds (14.0) per game. But the colorful Lovellette's life off the court was "complicated" at best, and he was wearing out his welcome. By October 1956, the Lakers traded their point guard Slater Martin in a five player deal to acquire seven footer Walter Dukes from the Knicks. Dukes had been a disappointment as a rookie, but the Lakers were hoping that he could compliment Lovellette and Vern Mikklesen up front and improve their team rebounding which was the third-worst in 1956. Macauley was hardly the rebounder that Russell was projected to be, though many compared Russell to Dukes prior to the 1956 draft.

Minneapolis had selected 6-6 Dayton swingman Jim Paxson with the third pick in the draft but after a poor rookie season, Paxson was shipped to Cincinnati Royals with Lovellette in a lopsided six player deal; the Lakers were so anxious to dump Lovellette that they received little besides former college star (but NBA role player) Hot Rod Hundley. A year later, Paxson's NBA career was over. Had the Lakers been able to execute a trade with the Celtics and added Hagan in place of Paxson, Minneapolis might have avoided their disastorous 19-53 1957-58 campaign. Though that record allowed the Lakers to draft Elgin Baylor first overall, the Lakers finished 14 games behind Detroit and Cincinnati, so it is reasonable to assume that even with Macauley and Hagan on the team the Lakers might still have been selecting first. (However, it is less likely the Lakers would have been in position to take Jerry West two years later.)

Of course, had the Lakers selected Bill Russell, NBA history would have been altered even more dramatically. That's why those six points in a game in March 1956 were among the most important points scored in basketball history.

Sources: Rising Above The Rim, http://basketball-reference.com, http://www.shrpsports.com.