George Mikan

“The experts say I was the first real big man who was able to dominate a game. Who am I to make liars of them? But there were some other fine big centers besides me in the 1940s - Bob Kurland, Don Otten, Arnie Risen and Ed Macauley, to name a few.”

“Basketball players, the good ones, are no one-shot specialisls. This is a game which puts a premium on your ability to hit that hoop consistently, and to excel in it you've got to have a variety of shots.”

“I didn't have the calling to be a priest. You know, either you do or you don't.”

“You just don't turn your back on a going business and strike out in a new one if you don't think it has a chance.”

“Coach Meyer taught me everything I know about the game. He taught me to think it. I'd never had a coach before him.”

“I like to be busy.”

“I'm afraid I'd get morose without the excitement of the business world.”

“I'm very near-sighted and can hardly see without my glasses.”

“We were always setting picks and screens and looking for an open shot.”

“Little Slater Martin, I think, was one of the best point guards ever, and we had Whitey Skoog, a great shooter, at the other guard.”

“Chicago's my old home town.”

“The athlete has the advantage of being able to advertise in the media what he wants to do when he retires.”

“Back in those old days, I'd arrive by train or plane a day or two ahead of the team to promote the game. They'd take me to a hotel and I'd do interview after interview to try to drum up business and sell tickets.”

“When they widened the lane to prevent me from staying so close to the basket that just created more opportunity for me to pass the ball around.”

“I went to Quigley Seminary and didn't have the time for basketball because I had to catch the bus after school to get home to Joliet. But Paul Mattei, then the athletic director at DePaul, saw me in one of the few games I did play for Quigley and told me if I decided to leave the seminary, he'd want me to come and play at DePaul.”

“Madison Square Garden was always one of my favorite places to play because of the great enthusiasm of the fans. They were always fair to an out-of-town guy like me.”

“We are proud of the Lakers, proud to be a part of the organization's history.”

“My true love is the Lakers - once a Laker, always a Laker.”

“Heck yes; a center always likes to shoot like a guard. But that just wasn't my thing to do.”

“New York is the center of commerce news media, television, advertising dollars.”