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Text File  |  1996-04-19  |  834 b   |  20 lines
  1.                                  George Mikan was the 
  2.                                  NBAΓÇÖs first star and its first 
  3.                                  big player. At 6' 10" and 
  4.                                  245 pounds, he might not 
  5.                                  seem that big by todayΓÇÖs 
  6. standards. But in the 1940ΓÇÖs and 1950ΓÇÖs, the 
  7. average player was much smaller. In fact, 
  8. many observers thought that very tall people 
  9. were too clumsy to play basketball. George 
  10. helped change that view.
  11.  
  12. George wasnΓÇÖt a natural athlete. As a high 
  13. school player in Joliet, Illinois, he was cut
  14. from his school team. When he entered
  15. DePaul University, he found a coach who
  16. helped him develop his basketball skills.
  17. George went on to become a three-time
  18. All-America! As a junior and senior, he
  19. was College Player of the Year. 
  20.