1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers season

1951–52 Minneapolis Lakers season
Third NBA Championship
Head coach	John Kundla
Arena	Minneapolis Auditorium

Results
Record	40–26 (.606)
Place	Division: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish	NBA Champions
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Radio	WLOL
Minneapolis Lakers seasons
< 1950–51	1952–53 >

The 1951–52 NBA season was the franchise's 6th season in the NBA. The NBA widened the foul lane before the 1951–52 season in an attempt to slow down George Mikan. Despite the change, it had little effect on Mikan. He still averaged 23.8 points per game, although he lost the scoring title to Paul Arizin, from the Philadelphia Warriors.^[1] The Lakers went into the campaign with essentially the same lineup. Rochester took first place in the Western Division by a game, but the Lakers ousted the Royals in four games in the division finals. The NBA Finals would have the Lakers oppose the New York Knickerbockers.^[1] Games 3 and 4 of the Finals were played at the 69th Regiment Armory instead of at Madison Square Garden. This was because the circus was in town. The teams split those games, and Games 5 and 6 as well. Game 7 was dominated by Minneapolis. The Lakers pounded out an 82–65 win at home to claim their second NBA crown in three years.^[1]

1 Offseason
- 1.1 NBA Draft
2 Roster
- 2.1 Depth chart
3 Regular season
- 3.1 Season standings
- 3.2 Season Schedule
4 Player stats
5 Playoffs
- 5.1 NBA Finals
6 Awards and honors
7 References

Offseason

NBA Draft

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve
C	George Mikan	Howie Schultz
PF	Vern Mikkelsen	Lew Hitch
SF	Jim Pollard
SG	Pep Saul	Bob Harrison
PG	Slater Martin	Joe Hutton	Whitey Skoog

Regular season

Season standings

Western Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Neutral	Div
x-Rochester Royals	41	25	.621	-	28-5	12-18	1-2	22-14
x-Minneapolis Lakers	40	26	.606	1	21-5	13-20	6-1	24-12
x-Indianapolis Olympians	34	32	.515	7	25-6	4-24	5-2	18-18
x-Fort Wayne Pistons	29	37	.439	12	22-11	6–24	1-2	17-19
Milwaukee Hawks	17	49	.258	24	8-13	3–22	6-14	9-27

Season Schedule

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

NBA Finals

Awards and honors

References

^ ^a ^b ^c LAKERS: Los Angeles Lakers History

1951–52 NBA season by team

1951 NBA Draft • All-Star Game • Playoffs • Finals • Transactions

Eastern	Baltimore • Boston • New York • Philadelphia • Syracuse

Western	Fort Wayne • Indianapolis • Milwaukee • Minneapolis • Rochester

Minneapolis Lakers 1951–52 NBA Champions

11 Lew Hitch \| 12 Howie Schultz \| 15 Joe Hutton \| 16 Bob Harrison \| 17 Jim Pollard \| 18 Frank Saul \| 19 Vern Mikkelsen \| 20 Myer Skoog \| 22 Slater Martin \| 99 George Mikan \| Head coach John Kundla

NBA Champions


Franchise • History • Seasons
1940s								1946–47	1947–48	1948–49
1950s	1949–50	1950–51	1951–52	1952–53	1953–54	1954–55	1955–56	1956–57	1957–58	1958–59
1960s	1959–60	1960–61	1961–62	1962–63	1963–64	1964–65	1965–66	1966–67	1967–68	1968–69
1970s	1969–70	1970–71	1971–72	1972–73	1973–74	1974–75	1975–76	1976–77	1977–78	1978–79
1980s	1979–80	1980–81	1981–82	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89
1990s	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99
2000s	1999–00	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09
2010s	2009-10	2010–11	2011–12

Preceded by Rochester Royals 1951	NBA Champions Minneapolis Lakers 1952, 1953, and 1954	Succeeded by Syracuse Nationals 1955