Arild Verner Agerskov Mikkelsen (October 21, 1928 – November 21, 2013) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. One of the

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's first

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s in the 1950s, he was known for his tenacious defense and durability, playing 699 out of a possible 704 games during his career. He was a six-time All-Star and four-time Second Team All-Pro, and was inducted into the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame and the sport's

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

in 1995. Along with fellow Hall of Famers George Mikan and Slater Martin he was a key part of four championships with the

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, today's

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. Mikkelsen was also an All-American in college, and earned a master's degree from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Early life

Mikkelsen was born in

Parlier, California Parlier is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 18,494, up from 14,494 in 2010. The city has one of the state's highest percentage of Latinos, a large majority of whom a ...

and was raised in the Danish-American community of Askov, Minnesota. His father, Michael, was an immigrant from Denmark who became a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor in Askov.

College career

Mikkelsen entered

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

on a basketball scholarship at the age of 16. In his senior year, Mikkelsen led NCAA Division II in field goal percentage. Hamline won the 1949 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament and Mikkelsen was voted an All-American. He would later receive a master's degree in psychology from the

Professional career

Minneapolis Lakers (1949-1960)

Mikkelsen played with George Mikan and Jim Pollard in the frontcourt of the

. The Lakers won four NBA titles during Mikkelsen's career. Mikkelsen played in six

NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...

s and was named to the All-NBA Second Team four times in his career. Mikkelsen ended his career after ten seasons in the NBA in 1959, having played in 699 of a possible 704 regular-season games. He led the NBA in both personal fouls and fouling out of games for three straight seasons during his career, and finished his career with 10,063 points scored. Mikkelsen still holds the league record for career games fouling out with 127, which he did in only 631 games (the NBA did not record that statistic until his second season).

Honors and awards

In 1956, Mikkelsen was inducted into the NAIA Basketball Hall of Fame. Mikkelsen was inducted into the

in 1995 along with Laker coach John Kundla. In 2002, during halftime of a Lakers/Timberwolves game, Mikkelsen and fellow Hall of Fame teammates George Mikan, Slater Martin, Arlee Pollard (widow of Jim Pollard), Clyde Lovellette and Coach John Kundla were each presented with championship rings. The Minneapolis players received the same rings provided by the NBA to the champion Los Angeles Lakers that same year.

Coaching

Mikkelsen later coached and was general manager of the Minnesota Pipers of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

Personal life and family

Mikkelsen's wife Jean died in 2002 after 47 years of marriage. Their two sons are named Tom and John. In 2006 a biography was published by John Egan titled ''The Vern Mikkelsen Story''. Mikkelsen died on November 21, 2013, in Wayzata, Minnesota surrounded by his family.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Notes

External links

*
Vern Mikkelsen profile
@ LakersWeb.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikkelsen, Vern 1928 births 2013 deaths American Basketball Association executives American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people of Danish descent Basketball coaches from California Basketball coaches from Minnesota Basketball players from California Basketball players from Minnesota Hamline Pipers men's basketball players Minneapolis Lakers draft picks Minneapolis Lakers players Minnesota Pipers coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees NBA All-Stars People from Parlier, California People from Pine County, Minnesota Power forwards Small forwards Basketball players from Fresno County, California University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni