1948 Bowman #69 George Mikan - PSA 8 | Rookie Card

Amidst the chaos of the early days of professional basketball, George Mikan was as impactful as a stabilizing force as he was in his dominating style of play.

“Mikan the Magnificent” can be credited with a great many firsts for the game, the original Laker, the first true star of the game, but his greatness on the court created an air of legitimacy in the critical nascent moments of the sport at the professional level. Hall of Famer Bob Cousy remarked that Mikan “single-handedly made the league credible and popular.”

In a relatively brief career, Mikan was a champion and All-NBA selection five times over. For his on-court accomplishments, he was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959 and has been included in each of the successive NBA Anniversary teams including the most recent 75th anniversary edition.

The card commemorates Mikan’s only year in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) before the Minneapolis Lakers would merge the league with the National Basketball League (NBL) to create the NBA. In the 1948-49 season, Mikan led the league in scoring as a 24 year old while the Lakers won their first of 17 officially recognized championships.

1948 Bowman was the first complete set of NBA trading cards ever produced. The front of each card has a very simplistic look that includes black and white player design laid on a solid color background, typically blue or red. This same design would eventually be used in the famous 1949 Bowman Baseball release. This first major release of basketball cards included, with Mikan, the first issued, and thus the official rookie cards for nine members of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Bowman’s only venture into basketball cards before being acquired by Topps in 1956, the series was released in two waves with the high numbered set (#37-72, including #69 Mikan) seeing a substantially smaller print run.

Mikan’s card has essentially become a Magna Carta in the basketball hobby as the first card of a major basketball star to be produced in a card set of such stature. The back-of-the-card claim of Mikan as “the greatest basketball player in history” has only been adequately challenged by few since it was printed over 75 years ago.

This card has been authenticated and deemed to be in Near Mint-Mint condition, receiving a grade of 8 from Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA). It is among the most immaculate prints of the card ever certified as only five of over 400 prints reviewed by PSA have received a higher grade at the time of cataloging.

The PSA certificate number for this card is: 05010448.

Going Deeper - George Mikan

Mr. Basketball

The first true basketball star, George Mikan routinely acted as a pioneer for the game.

By the time the DePaul alum entered the professional ranks shortly following World War II, he had established himself as a singularly dominant big man by twice being named NCAA Player of the Year. His first professional foray, an MVP season with the Chicago American Gears, saw him receive all-league honors. As a result of mismanagement by Gears owner Maurice White, Mikan would become reassigned to the Minneapolis Lakers starting in the 1947-48 season, a move that would change basketball history.

To begin his tenure, “Big Mike” and the Lakers would win three championships in as many seasons and as many leagues as they bounced from the NBL to the BAA and then helped establish the NBA alongside the Knicks, Celtics, and others. The rise in competition and talent didn’t impact Mikan’s ability to control the flow of games on the court, though changing rules did attempt to have an effect.

While in college, Mikan’s dominant rim presence caused the NCAA to establish the goaltending rule after he won his first Player of the Year award, while the NBL adopted the violation shortly thereafter. Additionally, Mikan’s style of play, defined by his stature near the rim on offense as well as defense, led to the introduction of the three-second violation and the 24-second shot clock.

The mild-mannered giant from the midwest introduced the idea of superstardom to the game of basketball. An early precursor to the way the game became presented around modern stars, marquees such as those at Madison Square Garden lit up to “Geo Mikan v/s Knicks.” Even the NBA refers to him as the “Michael Jordan of his time” for his status as a sports celebrity.

Following his illustrious playing career, Mikan would serve as the founder and commissioner of the ABA, where the three-point line and the dunk competition were introduced and paved the way for iconic franchises, such as the Nets, Spurs, and Nuggets, and transcendent talents, most notably Julius Erving, to come to the forefront of the basketball world. Additionally, he helped to bring basketball back to Minnesota with the Timberwolves founding in 1989 and won critical labor battles for players including improving pensions for retired players.