June 2 (Bloomberg) -- George Mikan, a basketball Hall-of- Famer whose dominance during the 1940s and '50s prompted the National Basketball Association to change its rules, has died. He was 80.

NBA spokesman Mark Broussard said he didn't have details of the death. The Associated Press said Mikan had been in failing health with diabetes and kidney problems.

In his nine professional seasons, two in the National Basketball League, one in the Basketball Association of America and six in the NBA, the 6-foot-10, bespectacled Mikan won seven championships.

He was the cornerstone of the NBA's first dynasty, the Minneapolis Lakers of the early 1950s. He led the league in scoring three times and in rebounding twice, and played in the NBA's first four All-Star games.

Mikan was so dominant that the marquee at New York's Madison Square Garden read ``Geo. Mikan vs. Knicks'' prior to a 1949 game between the Lakers and Knicks.

The NBA widened the lane area to 12 feet from 6 feet in an effort to make it more difficult for Mikan to score.

In 1950, the Fort Wayne Pistons decided that their best chance to beat the Lakers was to hold the ball and not let Mikan have it. Fort Wayne won, 19-18, in the lowest-scoring game in league history. The NBA implemented the 24-second shot clock a few seasons later.

Mikan was the first in a line of great Lakers' centers, preceding Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal.

Illinois Roots

George Lawrence Mikan Jr. was born on June 18, 1924, in Joliet, Illinois.

He attended DePaul University, where he was twice named player of the year and All-America three times. He led DePaul to the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1945.

While in college, Mikan perfected the art of goaltending, which wasn't against the rules at the time because the notion of someone being able to deflect the ball while it was above the 10- foot-high basket was unthinkable.

DePaul often used a zone defense, in which four players would surround the perimeter and Mikan would tap shots away from the rim. He blocked so many shots that the National Collegiate Athletic Association outlawed goaltending.

Mikan's professional debut came in 1946 with the Chicago American Gears of the NBL, a predecessor of the NBA. A hard-nosed competitor who once played in a game with a broken leg, he led the league in personal fouls three times.

Surprise Retirement

After leading the Lakers to their third straight title in 1954, Mikan stunned the basketball world by retiring, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

By the middle of the following season, however, Mikan returned to the court. He played in 37 games and Minnesota was eliminated from the playoffs in the opening round.

John Kundla, the Lakers' coach since the team's inception, took over as general manager and asked Mikan to coach the team. The Lakers were 9-30 when Mikan quit.

After a career in corporate and real estate law, Mikan returned to basketball as commissioner of the American Basketball Association, and came up with the league's trademark red-white- and-blue ball.

He served as commissioner until 1969 and resurfaced in the mid-1980s as the head of a task force to bring basketball back to Minneapolis. The Lakers had relocated to Los Angeles in 1960.

The NBA awarded Minneapolis the expansion Timberwolves in 1989. A statue of Mikan sits outside the Target Center, the team's home arena.

Mikan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.

There was no immediate word on funeral services or survivors.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 2, 2005 14:57 EDT