MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The day everybody in West Virginia has all the time dreaded has lastly arrived. Jerry West, the best athlete in West Virginia state sports activities historical past, died peacefully in his Los Angeles dwelling, the Los Angeles Clippers introduced earlier at this time.
No particular person or athlete is extra recognized with the Mountain State than Jerry West, whose identify was on the entrance and the again of his Mountaineer basketball uniform.
As Pittsburgh Press sportswriter Roy McHugh as soon as famously wrote, “the Jerry Wests of this world don’t are available in pairs.”
LEGEND: Wanting again at Jerry West’s historic WVU profession
“In the present day is among the saddest days ever for West Virginia College and the state of West Virginia. Mountaineer hearts everywhere in the world are damaged with the passing of the nice Jerry West,” West Virginia College Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker stated.
“A real gents, one of many biggest gamers and executives the NBA has ever seen and definitely probably the most well-known West Virginia Mountaineer of all time, he will probably be remembered eternally by the sports activities world, and this College and its followers owe him a fantastic debt of gratitude for a lifetime of accomplishment, generosity and loving recollections,” Baker added.
West was dwelling proof to all West Virginians that greatness was achievable, even when it was in Cheylan, which Los Angeles Instances sportswriter Jim Murray jokingly referred to as a “suburb” of Cabin Creek.
There have been nice gamers and nice sports activities executives, however by no means has there been a mix fairly like Jerry West. In actual fact, the silhouette of West is taken into account to be the idea of the NBA emblem, which prompted many to discuss with him merely as “The Brand.”
Like most children rising up in West Virginia within the early Forties, issues did not come straightforward for West. The son of a coal mine electrician, he noticed first-hand what dwelling in Appalachia was like towards the top of the Nice Despair. He discovered solace in capturing baskets at a neighbor’s home and developed his deadeye accuracy after he obtained uninterested in chasing the ball down the hill after misses.
His answer?
Do not miss, and he not often ever did.
West practiced so incessantly that he needed to take vitamin injections for added vitamin. The solitude of the filth basketball court docket he performed on later supplied West with the emotional shelter he wanted after studying at age 12 that his beloved older brother, David, was killed within the Korean Warfare.
Many years later, through the taping of the ESPN Sports activities Century Collection that aired in 2000, West had nice issue speaking about his older brother’s unlucky destiny.
Though West was creating right into a dominant basketball participant, his physique hadn’t fairly caught up but to his monumental expertise. It wasn’t till the summer time previous to his senior 12 months in highschool in 1955, after rising six inches, that he started to mature bodily. He led the state in scoring with greater than 900 factors throughout his senior season to guide East Financial institution Excessive to the 1956 state title.
By then, greater than 60 completely different colleges had supplied West a scholarship, however the persistence of West Virginia coach Fred Schaus gained out. West had change into accustomed to Schaus whereas listening to Jack Fleming’s radio broadcast of Mountaineer basketball video games within the late Forties, typically pulling the covers over his head with the radio tucked underneath his arm to idiot his mom into pondering he was asleep.
West Virginia already had a longtime participant in Charleston’s Sizzling Rod Hundley, however not like Hundley, West had a seriousness and drive that Hundley lacked. With Hundley, the Mountaineers by no means had bother getting via the Southern Convention, however when it got here time to play within the NCAA event, the Mountaineers had been all the time eradicated early.
That proved to be the case in 1958 throughout West’s sophomore season when he led the Mountaineers to a 26-1 common season document that included back-to-back victories over fifth-ranked Kentucky and top-ranked North Carolina within the Kentucky Invitational.
Simply six video games into his sophomore season, Jerry sank a shot with 12 seconds remaining to ship the Richmond recreation into time beyond regulation. He scored seven of the staff’s 9 factors within the additional session to win the sport, demonstrating his skill to carry out within the clutch.
Following the KIT, West Virginia jumped from No. 8 to No.1 within the nationwide polls — the highest-ever soar to No. 1 in AP ballot historical past — and remained on the prime of the rankings till mid-February when it slipped to No. 2 amid Southern Convention play.
Victories over Davidson, Richmond and William & Mary within the Southern Convention event obtained West Virginia again to No. 1 and the Mountaineers had been the highest seed within the NCAA event going through Manhattan in its dwelling metropolis, Madison Sq. Backyard.
Manhattan pulled off one of many greatest upsets in NCAA event historical past, partly due to 32 fouls being referred to as on West Virginia, which noticed its star gamers West, Lloyd Sharrar, Willie Akers and Joedy Gardner foul out.
Regardless of his staff dropping Sharrar, a 6-foot-10 heart, to commencement, West was decided to redeem himself the next season in 1959.
The Mountaineers returned to the NCAA event and superior all the way in which to the finals the place they had been clipped 71-70 by California within the nationwide championship recreation. The ball was in West’s fingers when time expired, however he was unable to get off a shot. He nonetheless gained the Ultimate 4’s Most Excellent Participant Award although after tying the NCAA five-game event scoring document with 160 factors.
TOURNAMENT RUN: How WVU superior to the 1959 championship recreation
WVU returned to the NCAA event throughout West’s senior season in 1960 earlier than falling to NYU in time beyond regulation on the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. In three years with him within the lineup, West Virginia posted information of 26-2, 29-5 and 26-5.
He completed his faculty profession with 2,309 factors, 1,240 rebounds and averages of 24.8 factors and 13.3 rebounds per recreation. He was a two-time consensus All-America and ranked with Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson as the faculty recreation’s two biggest gamers of that period.
The 2 later teamed as much as play for america staff within the 1960 Summer time Olympic Video games in Rome and led the U.S. staff to a gold medal.
The Lakers took West second within the NBA draft, one spot behind Cincinnati, which took Robertson, and the Lakers moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles previous to the 1961 season. Becoming a member of West in Los Angeles was Schaus, his faculty coach.
West didn’t crack the Lakers’ beginning lineup till halfway via his rookie season however ended up averaging 17.6 factors per recreation. In ensuing years, West teamed with all-star ahead Elgin Baylor to guide the Lakers to the NBA Finals in all however 4 of West’s 14 skilled seasons there.
Six occasions the Lakers misplaced to the Celtics within the Finals, prompting ESPN’s Bob Carter to jot down, “12 months after 12 months, the Boston Celtics gained the championship trophy and Jerry West took dwelling the comfort prize: reward for the runner-up.”
Within the seventh recreation of the 1969 finals, West scored 42 factors, pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out 12 assists whereas taking part in with a painful groin damage. He turned the one participant in league historical past to be MVP of the Finals as a member of the dropping staff. Celtics heart Invoice Russell stated of West’s efficiency, “Los Angeles has not gained the championship, however Jerry West is a champion.”
At one time, West’s 29.1 points-per-game common within the postseason was second solely to Michael Jordan’s 33.4 common and is now fifth in NBA historical past.
West was the NBA’s scoring champion in 1969-70, averaging 31.2 factors per recreation, and he was a primary staff NBA All-Star 12 occasions and made the all-defensive staff 4 occasions. He was a 14-time performer within the NBA All-Star recreation was named MVP in 1972, the identical 12 months he gained his solely NBA title.
West took on a distinct position that 12 months with heart Wilt Chamberlain on the staff, turning into extra of a playmaker and facilitator. He averaged 25.8 factors per recreation and led the league with a mean of 9.7 assists per recreation in serving to LA to a document 33-game successful streak.
The Lakers completed the common season with a 69-13 document, the NBA’s finest till the Chicago Bulls eclipsed it with a 72-10 mark in 1996. West was the third participant in NBA historical past to surpass 25,000 profession factors, following Chamberlain and Robertson.
His remaining two seasons in Los Angeles noticed him common higher than 20 factors per recreation, however at age 35, with accidents starting to take their toll, he stepped away from the sport when most believed he had extra to supply.
By most requirements, his 1974 season scoring common of 20.3 factors per recreation was a great cause to proceed, however to not West.
“I am not keen to sacrifice my requirements,” West stated on the time of his retirement. “Maybe I count on an excessive amount of.”
West quickly immersed himself into golf, and very like basketball, it was a sport he might grasp by himself. He perfected his recreation to the purpose the place he as soon as shot a spherical of 62 at Bel-Air Nation Membership. However golf didn’t present him the identical aggressive fireplace basketball did, and West returned to the sport as Lakers coach from 1976-79, main them to a 145-101 document and a spot within the playoffs every season.
“He took a loss tougher than any participant I’ve ever recognized,” longtime Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn as soon as stated. “He would simply sit by himself and stare into house.”
West realized his position as a head coach wasn’t working and was much more uncomfortable with the advisory position he accepted for 3 seasons with the Lakers from 1980-82. It was solely when he turned the Lakers’ normal supervisor that he once more flourished.
His astute choices and acquisitions helped flip the Lakers into the NBA’s premier staff within the Nineteen Eighties, ushering within the “Showtime period” that gained 5 NBA championships within the decade. And as soon as the Lakers started to develop outdated and rancid within the early Nineteen Nineties, he shook up the group, first by buying and selling established heart Vlade Divac for the rights to draft highschool sensation Kobe Bryant, after which releasing up sufficient wage cap house to signal All-Star heart Shaquille O’Neal. These daring strikes led to 3 extra NBA titles and common popularity of West as certainly one of skilled sports activities most excellent executives.
Twice named NBA Government of the 12 months, West helped the Lakers to 5 NBA titles earlier than leaving to supervise the Memphis Grizzlies for 5 years earlier than retiring in 2007. He joined the Golden State Warriors in 2011 as an government board member and left the Warriors after the second of their 4 NBA titles in 2017.
He concluded his NBA profession in an advisory capability with the Clippers.
West will probably be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame in October for the third time as a contributor, making him the primary particular person to be enshrined as a participant and a contributor. He was additionally acknowledged by the corridor of fame in 2010 as an Olympian.
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.
West was chosen as a part of the NBA’s seventy fifth Anniversary Group in 2021 and was thought of basketball royalty wherever he went.
He was an inaugural member of the West Virginia College Sports activities Corridor of Fame in 1991 and his jersey No. 44 was formally retired previous to the LSU recreation on Nov. 26, 2005. A statue of his likeness was devoted outdoors of the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 14, 2007.
Almost 65 years after he final performed, West nonetheless owns 17 college information.
“We’ve got misplaced the best Mountaineer of all time, and there’ll by no means be one other Jerry West. Our loving prayers exit to the West household. Relaxation in peace Brand — a champion and a Mountaineer eternally,” Baker stated.
Past his contributions on the basketball court docket, West was all the time a fantastic supporter of West Virginia College and by no means turned down a possibility to assist his alma mater. His experience was all the time consulted on basketball hiring choices and his recommendation and counsel had been regularly sought on necessary issues relating to the athletics division and the College.
He additionally discreetly donated thousands and thousands to WVU via the years with out a lot fanfare, per his needs.
The Clippers stated West’s spouse, Karen, was by his aspect when he died.
“Because the basketball world mourns the person recognized merely as “the emblem,” I be part of all West Virginians and members of the West Virginia College household in remembering a real legend,” West Virginia College president Gordon Gee stated this morning. “There’ll by no means be one other Jerry West.
“From his time as a record-breaking basketball participant within the WVU Discipline Home to his success within the entrance places of work of among the most revered sports activities franchises in America, Jerry introduced his distinctive skills, modern spirit and quiet power — the perfect of what it means to be a Mountaineer,” Gee stated. “He was a pricey pal and steadfast supporter of West Virginia College, and I ship my sincerest condolences to his spouse, Karen, and the whole West household.”
Son Jonnie, certainly one of West’s 5 youngsters, performed for John Beilein at WVU and is at the moment director of participant personnel for the Golden State Warriors. Jonnie married former skilled golfer Michelle Wie in 2019 and the couple have one daughter, Makenna.
West was 86.