Vern Mikkelsen, a Hall of Fame forerunner of the modern-day power forward who helped lead the Minneapolis Lakers to four N.B.A. championships in the early 1950s, died on Thursday at his home in Wayzata, Minn. He was 85.

The cause was complications of prostate cancer, his son Tom said.

Playing 10 seasons for the Lakers, Mikkelsen used his 6-foot-7, 230-pound bulk to provide stout rebounding and defense, but he also set up scoring plays and hit timely baskets. He teamed with Lakers center George Mikan, the N.B.A.’s first superstar, who became known as Mr. Basketball; Jim Pollard, the prototype of the small forward, called the Kangaroo Kid for his leaping ability; and Slater Martin, the playmaker who became the model for the current-day point guard.

Usually guarding the opposition’s best shooter, Mikkelsen played on Laker teams that won N.B.A. championships in 1950, ’52, ’53 and ’54. He was a six-time All-Star and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 with John Kundla, who coached those teams. They joined Mikan, Pollard and Martin in the Hall, in Springfield, Mass.

Although his induction came 36 years after he retired, Mikkelsen did not make a fuss about it.

“We are a laid-back people in Minnesota,” he told The St. Paul Pioneer Press. “My barber told me my haircuts will still be $11. My wife told me I still have to take out the garbage. Minnesota humble is a state of mind that doesn’t allow for a big head, so I never let myself get worked up about not getting in. Still, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t frustrating.”