"If the Mikan family is watching, please contact the Heat office because I'd like to pay for his funeral," O'Neal told TNT. "I know who he was. I know what he did. Without George Mikan, there is ...

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 ...

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 ...

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) ...

Since the 2022-23 season, the winner of the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award receives the George Mikan Trophy. And to add, the Lakers retired Mikan’s No. 99 jersey in 2022.

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.

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 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.

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.

Mikan, nicknamed "Mr. Basketball," played with the Lakers back when they were located in Minneapolis, and helped bring six championships to the franchise from 1947 to 1954.