[3] In October 2021, Baylor was again honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.

[5] In 1974, he volunteered to play a mixed doubles exhibition tennis match with Tracy Austin against Lawrence McCutcheon and Lea Antonopolis in Clarement, California, for a sold-out crowd.

[9] Although he grew up near a D.C. city recreation center, African Americans were banned from using the facilities, and Baylor had limited access to basketball courts growing up.

[12] He did not perform well academically and dropped out of school (1952–53) to work in a furniture store and play basketball in the local recreational leagues.

[12] Baylor reappeared for the 1954 season as a senior playing for the recently opened all-black Spingarn High School.

1 overall pick in the 1958 NBA draft to select Baylor, then convinced him to skip his senior year at SU and instead join the pro ranks.

The year prior to Baylor's arrival, the team finished 19–53 – the worst record in the league – with a squad that was slow, bulky and aging.

Owner Bob Short, who was ready to sell the team, believed Baylor's star athletic talents and all-around game could save the franchise.

[9] According to basketball historian James Fisher, by virtue of his exceptional skills and his central role in the team's business plan, Baylor became the NBA's first franchise player.

The duo of Baylor and West, joined in 1968 by center Wilt Chamberlain, led the Lakers to success in the Western Division throughout the 1960s.

[6][7][13] Baylor, a United States Army Reservist, was called to active duty during the 1961–62 season, and being stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass.

[13] Baylor told the press that he could no longer play at the highest level of the sport[7] and wanted to free up room on the Lakers' roster for other players.

[13] As a result of his retirement at the beginning of the season, Baylor missed two historic achievements: the Lakers' first game afterwards began an NBA record 33-game win streak, after which they won the 1972 championship.

[13][27] However, Baylor felt vindicated when Sterling was banned for life from the NBA in 2014 after recordings of him making racist comments were publicized by the press.

He was surrounded by his wife Elaine and their daughter Krystle; two children from a previous marriage, Alan and Alison; and a sister, Gladys.

At 6'5", 225lbs, he was short for a forward even for the time period in which he played, but he had the strength to "muscle through" defenders, and the finesse and creativity to maneuver around them, including to rebound missed shots and score second chance points.

Baylor was known for his superior leaping abilities that allowed him to score by staying in the air longer than defenders; Bill Russell called him "the godfather of hang time.

[6][13] Since the beginning of his NBA career, Baylor has been considered one of the best basketball players in the world, and his reputation as one of the greatest in history has endured.

Baylor introduced a creative and acrobatic playing style that would later be emulated by other NBA superstars such as Julius Erving and Michael Jordan.

His signature running bank shot, which he was able to release quickly and effectively over taller players, led him to numerous NBA scoring records, several of which still stand.

[30] A 10-time All-NBA First Team selection and 11-time NBA All-Star, Baylor was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977.

[32][33][34] Fifty-one years after Baylor left Seattle University, they named its basketball court in honor of him on November 19, 2009.

[35] The first biography of Baylor was written by Slam Online contributor Bijan C. Bayne in 2015, and published by Rowman and Littlefield.

[36] On April 6, 2018, a statue of Baylor, designed by Gary Tillery and Omri Amrany, was unveiled at the Staples Center prior to a Lakers game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.