The Minneapolis Lakers played what would be a final home game on March 24, 1960. It was the sixth game of the West Division finals against the heavily favored St. Louis Hawks, and the Lakers had a 3-2 lead in the series.
The Lakers were 25-50 in the regular season. They were rewarded with a playoff spot because the NBA was an eight-team league, split into East and West Divisions where three of four teams advanced.
The Cincinnati Royals were even worse, so into the playoffs the Lakers went, defeating Detroit 2-0 in a best-of-three series, then having the Hawks and Bob Pettit on the ropes.
Didn’t work out that way. The Hawks ran the Lakers out of the Armory 117-96 in Game 6, in spite of 38 points from the great Elgin Baylor, and then won at St. Louis 97-86 overcoming another 33 from Elgin.
Lakers owner Bob Short spent that season greasing the skids for a move to Los Angeles. After the final game in St. Louis, he told Twin Cities reporters that he would request permission from the NBA to move to L.A.
On April 27, that permission was granted. The Minneapolis Tribune’s coverage the next morning included a fan reaction piece with a quote from season-ticket holder K.N. Hefland.
“This is going to hurt us in our Major League Baseball campaign,” Hefland told reporter Dwayne Netland. “It’s too bad because the Lakers were just one player from being a great team.”
Hefland was wrong about baseball; Calvin Griffith moved his Washington Senators here on Oct. 26, 1960. He was right about the great player, and the Lakers already had him.