Invariably playing with thick, round spectacles, the 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), 245 lb (111 kg) Mikan was one of the pioneers of professional basketball.

[3] After his playing career, Mikan became one of the founders of the American Basketball Association (ABA), serving as commissioner of the league.

In his later years, Mikan was involved in a long-standing legal battle against the NBA to increase the meager pensions of players who had retired before the league became lucrative.

[5][6][7][8] Mikan was born on June 18, 1924, in Joliet, Illinois, to a Croatian father, Joseph, and a Lithuanian mother, Minnie,[9] along with brothers Joe and Ed and sister Marie.

When Mikan entered Chicago's DePaul University in 1942, he stood 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), weighed 245 lb (111 kg), moved awkwardly because of his frame, and wore thick glasses for his nearsightedness.

[12] While in high school, Mikan met 28-year-old rookie DePaul basketball coach Ray Meyer.

Meyer's thoughts were revolutionary for the time, when it was still believed that tall players were too awkward to ever play basketball well.

[12] In addition, Meyer made Mikan punch a speed bag, take dancing lessons, and jump rope to make him a complete athlete.

[4] Mikan dominated his peers from the start of his National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) career at DePaul.

Mikan established a reputation as one of the hardest and grittiest players in the league, often playing through injuries and punishing opposing centers with hard fouls.

[11] In addition, Mikan surprised the basketball world with his ability to goaltend, swatting balls in flight before they could reach the hoop.

[12] After the end of the 1945–46 college season, Mikan signed with the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League, a predecessor of the modern NBA.

Mikan led the Gears to a third-place finish at the 1946 World Professional Basketball Tournament, where he was named Most Valuable Player after scoring 100 points in five games.

[1][12] Before the start of the 1947–48 NBL season, Gears owner Maurice White pulled the team out of the league.

However, the league folded after just a month, and the players of White's teams were distributed among the remaining NBL franchises via dispersal draft.

[18] In April 1948, he led the Lakers to victory in the World Professional Basketball Tournament, where he was named MVP after scoring a tournament-record 40 points against the New York Renaissance in the title-clinching game.

Decades later, in 1990, Mikan recalled that his leg was taped with a plate; however, despite effectively hopping around the court on one foot, he said he still averaged 20-odd points per game.

This qualified as one of the strangest Finals series in NBA history, as neither team could play on their home court in the first six games.

The Lakers' Minneapolis Auditorium was already booked, and the Knicks' Madison Square Garden was occupied by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Perpetually double-teamed by Knicks' Nat Clifton and Harry Gallatin, Mikan was unable to assert himself, and the two teams split the first six games.

[1] In the 1953–54 NBA season, the now 29-year-old Mikan slowly declined, averaging 18.1 points, 14.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

[23] He was inducted into the inaugural Basketball Hall of Fame class of 1959 and was declared the greatest player of the first half of the century by The Associated Press.

He challenged incumbent Representative Roy Wier in a closely fought race that featured a high voter turnout.

Despite the reelection of incumbent Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, the inexperienced Mikan lost by a close margin of 52% to 48%.

According to Mel Davis of the National Basketball Retired Players Union, this battle kept him going because Mikan hoped to be alive when a new collective bargaining agreement would finally vindicate his generation.

Many felt that the players of the big-money generation should rally for larger pensions for the pre-1965 predecessors in labor negotiations.

"[31] Before Game Five of the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals between the Heat and the Detroit Pistons, there was a moment of silence to honor Mikan.

Bob Cousy remarked that Mikan figuratively carried the NBA in the early days and single-handedly made the league credible and popular.

As well as being declared the greatest player of the first half of the century by The Associated Press, Mikan was on the Helms Athletic Foundation all-time All-American team, chosen in a 1952 poll.

Since April 2001, a statue of Mikan shooting his trademark hook shot has graced the entrance to the Minnesota Timberwolves' Target Center.