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By Tim Ruzek

On a February 1948 night, a new basketball team called the Minneapolis Lakers traveled to Austin for an exhibition game against the Hormel Packers.

Months into its inaugural season, this franchise would become the famed Los Angeles Lakers that now have the second-most championships behind the Boston Celtics.

In 1948, three future NBA Hall of Famers – George Mikan (6’10”), Jim Pollard (6’5”) and coach John Kundla – were on the Lakers squad described as “the pride of the National Basketball League this season,” the Austin Daily Herald wrote Feb. 9, 1948. NBL was one of two leagues the Lakers played in before joining the NBA.

The Lakers are “considered by many as the best professional basketball team in the country, with a star-studded lineup,” the Herald wrote. “Well-balanced, clever combination that should be worth the admission price to watch despite the fact the visitors will be heavy favorites to win easily.”

And “win easily” the Lakers did, taking down the Packers, 72-43.

Herald ads promoted the 8 p.m. game at Austin High’s gym (today’s Ove Berven Gym), with an opener between Blooming Prairie High School and Austin High’s A Squad reserves. Tickets sold for $1 ($13.50 today).

Outside of newspapers, nothing is online about the game. A Minneapolis Lakers historian doesn’t even list it with other 1947-48 exhibition and regular games.

The Hormel Packers were also in their first season of organized, amateur basketball, and had guard Pat Geraghty, who played pro basketball in Kansas City the previous year. Other starters were forward Chuck Wilson; center Duane Grimley; and guards Emory Thompson and Jerry Griffin.

Packers coach Streak McKay, who also played, sought matchups against the “best semi-pro or amateur teams in the state” but scheduling was a problem.

How the Lakers’ exhibition game came about is a mystery.

Mikan, the Lakers’ center, is considered pro basketball’s first dominant big man and was voted the first half century’s greatest player. He won six titles with the Lakers and led three leagues in scoring.

In 1949, New York’s Madison Square Garden’s marquee read: “Geo. Mikan vs. Knicks.”

In Minneapolis, a Mikan statue greets visitors in the lobby of Target Center, where the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves play.

Before the Austin game, the Herald noted “Mikan is probably the biggest single attraction on the Laker squad this season.”

Pollard, whom the Hall of Fame called a “smooth shooter whose game was graced with finesse and class,” was a key member of six championship Laker teams. He could touch the top of the backboard and dunk from the foul line.

Age 31 when he started coaching the Lakers, Kundla led them through the 1950s before coaching at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota.

On Feb. 9, the Lakers arrived in Austin after beating the Oshkosh (Wis.) All-Stars 78-56 the previous night in Minneapolis.

While the Packers were fired up, “there is little chance they can match the Lakers’ scoring,” the Herald wrote.

“Lakers Thrill Austin Fans in Cage Test,” read a Herald headline the next day.

The Herald noted the game showed why the Lakers were considered the best in pro basketball and a favorite to win the league title.

“The Lakers didn’t have an outstanding star running the show last night – they had a handful.”

Lakers players didn’t need to “extend themselves” but their passing, shooting and overall finesse “left even the most rabid of doubters gasping for breath.”

Pollard was the game’s most effective, all-around player at forward and center. He scored 12 points and played solid defense.

“Big George Mikan, towering in the atmosphere at 6 feet, 10 inches, had little trouble handling rebounds as can be expected but more interesting was his able direction of the team off the pivot and his ability to hit his teammates with sharp, snappy passes as they broke for the net.”

Mikan played most of the game, scoring four shots “but probably he could have made a dozen more if he hadn’t spent most of the time feeding his mates.”

Coach Kundla even put himself in for part of the fourth quarter.

Off the bench, Red Erickson was the Packers’ best shooter, with seven field goals.

Ten days later, the Lakers played an exhibition game before a capacity crowd of 16,000 against the Harlem Globetrotters in Chicago. This was the first of many Lakers-Globetrotters games.

The Globetrotters beat the Lakers 61-59 on a basket that came as the final gun sounded. The Lakers had blown a 9-point lead and protested that the basket came after the gun.

The Lakers went on to win the 1948 NBL championship after posting a 43-17 regular-season record. However, it isn’t among the 17 titles recognized by the NBA, which starts with the 1949 title.

The Lakers played 12 seasons in Minneapolis before moving in 1960 to Los Angeles. The team wasn’t profitable in Minneapolis partly because it didn’t have a consistent home court despite winning three-straight NBA titles in 1952 to 1954.

If you have a question or would like to suggest an idea for Tim Ruzek, email: tim@mowerdistrict.org