Shaquille O’Neal said Mikan “made basketball bigger.” “You made me, me,” O’Neal said in a 2022 Mikan tribute video . “Because of you, there’s no limits to where we can play.” ...

Shaquille O’Neal is widely recognized as one of the most dominant players in modern NBA history, ... Meanwhile, George Mikan won five NBA/BAA titles and was a three-time scoring champion.

How George Mikan paved the way for Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal. One year before the NBA was known as the NBA, the Minneapolis Lakers entered the Basketball ...

George Mikan from the Minneapolis Lakers, left, poses for a portrait with Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers during a 2002 photo shoot. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) ...

When Mikan passed during the 2005 NBA Playoffs, it was O'Neal that paid for the funeral expenses, saying "without No. 99, there is no me." The jersey retirement is the perfect way to honor the ...

Patrick Mikan, one of George’s sons, remembered visits to L.A. when the two men – Mr. Basketball and the man who helped bring together the “Showtime” Lakers – would spend time talking hoops.

George Mikan doesn’t necessarily come to mind, and it’s mostly because he played for the Minneapolis iteration of the Lakers during the NBA’s infancy in the late 1940s and 1950s.

The Minneapolis Lakers' George Mikan, right, grabs a rebound in front of teammate Herman Schaefer during their BAA game against the Washington Capitols in this Jan. 31, 1949 file photo in Minneapolis.

The Los Angeles Lakers retired Hall of Famer George Mikan’s jersey Sunday night in a pregame ceremony. Mikan’s family was there to celebrate the honor and watch No. 99 be unveiled.