1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers season

NBA professional basketball team season (won championship) March 2026 August 2023 Minneapolis Lakers 1953 yes yes 48 22 Western 1 John Kundla Minneapolis Auditorium WLOL NBA champions (Defeated Knickerbockers 4–1) MNL The 1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers season was the fifth season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).1952–53 Minneapolis Lakers The Lakers continued to be the dominant force in the league as they won the Western Division with a 48–22 record. In the playoffs, the Lakers would sweep the Indianapolis Olympians in 2 straight. In the Western Finals, the Lakers would win the first 2 games at home. Against the Fort Wayne Pistons, the Lakers were pushed to a 5th game. The series returned to Minneapolis, where the Lakers won the 5th game 74–58. In the Finals, the Lakers vanquished the New York Knickerbockers for their 2nd straight Championship, and 4th Championship overall in the franchise's first five seasons in the NBA.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/mpls/mplslakers.html Minneapolis Lakers – Sports Ecyclopedia January 6, 2014 January 19, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160119163208/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nba/mpls/mplslakers.html dead HoopsHype later ranked this squad as the team with the fourth-easiest path to an NBA Finals championship, noting them as the team who had the easiest path while facing off against opponents who held mostly above-average records that season, with the only outlier being their first round opponent of the Indianapolis Olympians under their final season of existence.Urbina Frank Ranking the easiest paths to an NBA title ever HoopsHype 2024-06-17 https://hoopshype.com/lists/ranking-the-easiest-paths-to-an-nba-title-ever-championship/ 2025-03-19 Offseason NBA draft 1952 NBA draft Roster Minneapolis Lakers 1952–53 16 Bob Harrison basketball SG 6 1 190 1927-08-12 Michigan 11 Lew Hitch PF 6 8 200 1929-07-16 Kansas State 12, 13 Jim Holstein SF 6 3 180 1930-09-24 Cincinnati 22 Slater Martin PG 5 10 170 1925-10-22 Texas 99 George Mikan C 6 10 245 1924-06-18 DePaul 19 Vern Mikkelsen PF 6 7 230 1928-10-21 Hamline University 17 Jim Pollard SF 6 4 185 1922-07-09 Stanford 18 Pep Saul SG 6 2 185 1924-02-16 Seton Hall Dick Schnittker F 6 5 200 1928-05-27 Ohio State 12 Howie Schultz PF 6 6 200 1922-07-03 Hamline University 20 Whitey Skoog SG 5 11 180 1926-11-02 Minnesota John Kundla https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MNL/1953.html Regular season Season standings MNL Game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 November 1 Boston 91–94 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 1–0 2 November 2 @ Fort Wayne 81–69 Jim Pollard (18) 2–0 3 November 5 @ Baltimore 97–75 Slater Martin (21) 3–0 4 November 8 @ Philadelphia 93–71 George Mikan (18) 4–0 5 November 9 @ Syracuse 89–96 George Mikan (25) 4–1 6 November 11 @ Boston 101–92 Slater Martin (20) 5–1 7 November 13 @ New York 91–100 George Mikan (32) 5–2 8 November 15 @ Rochester 89–97 George Mikan (29) 5–3 9 November 16 Milwaukee 51–87 George Mikan (14) 6–3 10 November 20 @ Fort Wayne 89–81 George Mikan (32) 7–3 11 November 22 Fort Wayne 89–96 George Mikan (35) 8–3 12 November 23 @ Milwaukee 62–46 George Mikan (17) 9–3 13 November 27 Indianapolis 69–90 Vern Mikkelsen (19) 10–3 14 November 28 @ Indianapolis 97–82 Slater Martin (22) 11–3 15 November 29 @ Rochester 71–83 Jim Pollard (17) 11–4 16 November 30 Philadelphia 66–91 George Mikan (23) 12–4 17 December 1 N Baltimore 67–89 Mikan, Mikkelsen (17) 13–4 18 December 3 @ Boston 106–102 (OT) Jim Pollard (29) 14–4 19 December 4 @ New York 81–71 Vern Mikkelsen (24) 15–4 20 December 6 New York 78–85 (OT) George Mikan (27) 16–4 21 December 8 N Indianapolis 76–81 George Mikan (25) 16–5 22 December 11 Syracuse 79–82 Vern Mikkelsen (31) 17–5 23 December 14 Rochester 77–95 Slater Martin (17) 18–5 24 December 19 @ Indianapolis 87–69 Slater Martin (22) 19–5 25 December 20 @ Milwaukee 75–86 Vern Mikkelsen (28) 19–6 26 December 25 Indianapolis 73–90 George Mikan (20) 20–6 27 December 27 Boston 71–94 Jim Pollard (20) 21–6 28 December 28 Milwaukee 77–86 Harrison, Mikkelsen (17) 22–6 29 December 30 @ Indianapolis 69–74 George Mikan (16) 22–7 30 December 31 Baltimore 56–82 George Mikan (19) 23–7 31 January 2 N Milwaukee 74–66 Vern Mikkelsen (22) 24–7 32 January 3 N Milwaukee 79–75 Slater Martin (22) 25–7 33 January 4 Rochester 80–83 (OT) George Mikan (23) 26–7 34 January 6 N Rochester 85–69 George Mikan (26) 26–8 35 January 8 @ Syracuse 67–75 George Mikan (16) 26–9 36 January 10 N Fort Wayne 79–84 George Mikan (29) 27–9 37 January 11 New York 79–85 George Mikan (22) 28–9 38 January 14 @ Baltimore 112–104 (2OT) George Mikan (46) 29–9 39 January 17 @ Rochester 101–109 George Mikan (41) 29–10 40 January 18 Milwaukee 83–70 George Mikan (22) 29–11 41 January 23 N Milwaukee 65–67 George Mikan (22) 29–12 42 January 25 Boston 82–87 George Mikan (30) 30–12 43 January 27 N Fort Wayne 96–76 Jim Pollard (23) 31–12 44 January 29 Syracuse 83–65 George Mikan (13) 31–13 45 January 31 Fort Wayne 80–87 George Mikan (23) 32–13 46 February 1 @ Fort Wayne 92–76 Slater Martin (19) 33–13 47 February 3 @ Indianapolis 93–96 (3OT) George Mikan (29) 33–14 48 February 5 New York 73–81 George Mikan (36) 34–14 49 February 7 @ Rochester 72–87 George Mikan (25) 34–15 50 February 8 Indianapolis 67–71 George Mikan (24) 35–15 51 February 12 Syracuse 81–91 George Mikan (36) 36–15 52 February 14 Philadelphia 84–92 George Mikan (19) 37–15 53 February 15 @ Milwaukee 80–71 George Mikan (23) 38–15 54 February 17 N Baltimore 74–70 Vern Mikkelsen (19) 38–16 55 February 19 Rochester 87–107 Mikan, Pollard (17) 39–16 56 February 21 Fort Wayne 75–85 Jim Pollard (17) 40–16 57 February 22 @ Fort Wayne 78–90 George Mikan (26) 40–17 58 February 24 @ New York 63–79 Jim Pollard (12) 40–18 59 February 25 @ Baltimore 85–72 George Mikan (20) 41–18 60 February 26 @ Philadelphia 85–73 George Mikan (25) 42–18 61 February 27 N Philadelphia 75–98 George Mikan (22) 43–18 62 March 1 N Philadelphia 80–102 George Mikan (33) 44–18 63 March 3 N Fort Wayne 86–68 Vern Mikkelsen (23) 45–18 64 March 5 @ Syracuse 91–94 Vern Mikkelsen (23) 45–19 65 March 6 @ Boston 85–100 Vern Mikkelsen (21) 45–20 66 March 7 @ Rochester 82–84 Vern Mikkelsen (17) 45–21 67 March 8 Milwaukee 73–100 George Mikan (18) 46–21 68 March 9 N Indianapolis 83–95 Vern Mikkelsen (22) 46–22 69 March 12 Rochester 77–89 George Mikan (28) 47–22 70 March 17 @ Indianapolis 73–71 Pollard, Skoog (14) 48–22 Player stats Note: GP= Games played; REB= Rebounds; AST= Assists; STL = Steals; BLK = Blocks; PTS = Points; AVG = Average Player GP REB AST STL BLK PTS AVG Playoffs Minneapolis Lakers yes 1953 Minneapolis Lakers Division Semifinals yes yes no 1 0 1 0 yes yes yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | March 22 | Indianapolis | W 85–69 | Vern Mikkelsen (18) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | March 23 | @ Indianapolis | W 81–79 | Pollard, Mikkelsen (16) | Butler Fieldhouse | 2–0 |- Minneapolis Lakers Division Finals yes no 3 0 0 2 yes yes yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | March 26 | Fort Wayne | W 83–73 | George Mikan (21) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | March 28 | Fort Wayne | W 82–75 | George Mikan (20) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 2–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | March 30 | @ Fort Wayne | L 95–98 | George Mikan (23) | War Memorial Coliseum | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 1 | @ Fort Wayne | L 82–85 | George Mikan (25) | War Memorial Coliseum | 2–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | April 2 | Fort Wayne | W 74–58 | Mikan, Martin (18) | Minneapolis Auditorium | 3–2 |- Minneapolis Lakers NBA Finals yes no 1 1 3 0 yes |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 4 | New York | L 88–96 | George Mikan (25) | — | Minneapolis Auditorium5,000 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 2 | April 5 | New York | W 73–71 | George Mikan (18) | — | Minneapolis Auditorium4,848 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 3 | April 7 | @ New York | W 90–75 | George Mikan (20) | — | 69th Regiment Armory5,100 | 2–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 4 | April 8 | @ New York | W 71–69 | George Mikan (27) | — | 69th Regiment Armory5,200 | 3–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 5 | April 10 | @ New York | W 91–84 | Jim Pollard (17) | Vern Mikkelsen (6) | 69th Regiment Armory5,200 | 4–1 |- MNL yes 1953 Awards and honors George Mikan, All-NBA First Team Vern Mikkelsen, All-NBA Second Team George Mikan, NBA All-Star Game Vern Mikkelsen, NBA All-Star Game Slater Martin, NBA All-Star Game George Mikan, NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award References Lakers on Database Basketball Lakers on Basketball Reference Category:Los Angeles Lakers seasons Minneapolis Lakers season Category:NBA championship seasons Minnesota Lakers Minnesota Lakers