The jettisoning of Elgin Baylor as Clippers general manager probably shouldn't be a surprise. Baylor's influence and clout in the organization were overtaken by Mike Dunleavy some time ago; on draft night, for example, both men sat at the microphones but Dunleavy answered most of the questions and in general seemed to have more of an idea of what was going on.

That this has turned somewhat ugly, with Baylor retaining a couple of attorneys and re-examining his options, is also unsurprising, given Clippers history. (See: Bill Fitch, who was fired and had to go to court in an attempt to get the remaining money due him.)

But it's also sad, because Baylor not only was a loyal Donald Sterling employee for 22 years -- probably more loyal than the organization deserved for many of those years -- but because this was a true NBA pioneer, one of the men involved in the transformation of this league from the small-town, one-step-above-barnstorming circuit of the 1950s.

Normally, I'm not a fan of ESPN's Bill Simmons. But he nailed it with this essay on Elgin and what he meant to this league as a member of the 1960s Lakers.

And here are some glimpses of what vintage Elgin was all about:

Also:

His 61-point performance in Game 5 of the 1962 Finals against Boston.

More from his early years with the Lakers, including this quote from Rod Hundley: "That was the best play we had: get it to Elgin and get out of the way."

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