Jerry West, who was chosen to the Basketball Corridor of Fame thrice in a storied profession as a participant and government and whose silhouette is taken into account to be the idea of the NBA emblem, died Wednesday morning on the age of 86, the LA Clippers introduced.
West was the third participant in NBA historical past to succeed in 25,000 factors, was an All-Star yearly of his profession and led the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA Finals 9 instances, profitable one title in 1971-72. He was additionally a 12-time All-NBA choice, an NBA Finals MVP as a part of a shedding staff in 1969 and a part of the NBA’s seventy fifth anniversary staff.
“Jerry West was a basketball genius and a defining determine in our league for greater than 60 years,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned in a press release. “He distinguished himself not solely as an NBA champion and an All-Star in all 14 of his enjoying seasons, but in addition as a consummate competitor who embraced the largest moments.”
“… I valued my friendship with Jerry and the information he shared with me over a few years about basketball and life. On behalf of the NBA, we ship our deepest condolences to Jerry’s spouse, Karen, his household and his many associates within the NBA group.”
PlayerPointsJerry West1,679LeBron James1,562Kareem Abdul-Jabbar1,317Michael Jordan1,176– ESPN Stats & Info
The NBA is planning a pregame tribute to West earlier than Recreation 3 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday evening.
West was “the personification of basketball excellence and a good friend to all who knew him,” the Clippers mentioned in asserting his loss of life, including that Karen West was by his aspect when he died.
Following his enjoying profession, West discovered title success as an NBA government, constructing the Showtime Lakers of the Nineteen Eighties that gained 5 titles in that decade and overseeing the formation the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant tandem. West stayed for simply the primary title in 2000 because the Lakers went on to three-peat.
He grew to become an adviser for the Clippers beginning in 2017, serving to to engineer the breakup of the staff’s “Lob Metropolis” core that led the way in which to the signing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Clippers reached the Western Convention finals for the primary time in 2021.
West additionally labored within the entrance places of work of the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors.
He was a two-time All-American at West Virginia, the place he averaged 24.8 factors per sport and helped the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship sport, being named Closing 4 Most Excellent Participant regardless of a loss within the remaining to Cal. West additionally teamed with Oscar Robertson to guide the U.S. to a gold medal on the 1960 Rome Olympics.
All these accomplishments made West considered one of solely three gamers (together with Magic Johnson and Hakeem Olajuwon) to win a Finals MVP, be named NCAA event Most Excellent Participant and earn an Olympic gold medal.
Nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a participant, West went into the Corridor of Fame as a participant in 1980 and once more as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Staff in 2010. He shall be enshrined for a 3rd time later this yr as a contributor.
Even within the remaining years of his life, West was thought-about basketball royalty. He routinely sat courtside at Summer season League video games in Las Vegas, usually watching many video games in a day whereas greeting lengthy traces of gamers — LeBron James amongst them — who would method to shake his hand and pay him respect.
“The sport transcends many issues,” West mentioned whereas attending Summer season League final yr. “The gamers change, the fashion of play could change, however the respect that you just be taught on this sport by no means modifications.”
A local of Chelyan, West Virginia, West was generally known as a tenacious participant who was not often glad along with his efficiency. He grew up capturing at a basket nailed to the aspect of a shed and sometimes shot till his fingers bled. He grew to become the primary highschool participant in state historical past to attain greater than 900 factors in a season, averaging 32.2 factors per sport in main East Financial institution Excessive to a state title.
Basketball, he would later reveal, was his remedy.
In his memoir, “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life,” West chronicled a lifelong battle with melancholy. He wrote that his childhood was devoid of affection and crammed with anger because of an abusive father. He usually felt nugatory, and to fight that, he mentioned he put his vitality into enjoying the sport.
“Success and not using a private satisfaction or sacrifice is not success in any respect,” West mentioned throughout a 2006 speech at a West Virginia graduation. “It is posturing. Cash is a way of energy, however seldom a measure of success.”
He’s twenty fifth on the NBA profession scoring record, and whereas the NBA has by no means confirmed that West was in truth the mannequin for its emblem — a participant dribbling a ball, set in opposition to a red-and-blue background — the league has by no means mentioned in any other case both.
“Whereas it is by no means been formally declared that the emblem is Jerry West,” Silver mentioned in 2021, “it positive appears to be like loads like him.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
