Jerry West
American basketball player and executive / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938)[3][4] is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "the Logo", in reference to his silhouette being the basis for the NBA logo; "Mr. Clutch", for his ability to make a big play in a key situation such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks; "Mr. Outside", in reference to his perimeter play with the Los Angeles Lakers and "Zeke from Cabin Creek" for the creek near his birthplace of Chelyan, West Virginia. West played the small forward position early in his career: he was a standout at East Bank High School and at West Virginia University, where he led the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship game. He earned the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor despite the loss. He then embarked on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers and was the co-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team, a squad that was inducted as a unit into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
_(cropped).jpg) West at the White House in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles Clippers | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Executive board member | ||||||||||||||||||||
| League | NBA | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1938-05-28) May 28, 1938 (age 85) Chelyan, West Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[lower-alpha 1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| High school | East Bank (East Bank, West Virginia) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| College | West Virginia (1957–1960) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1960: 1st round, 2nd overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the Minneapolis Lakers | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1960–1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard / shooting guard | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 44 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 1976–1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||
| As player: | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1974 | Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||||||||||||
| As coach: | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1976–1979 | Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||
As player:
As executive: | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Career playing statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Points | 25,192 (27.0 ppg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 5,366 (5.8 rpg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Assists | 6,238 (6.7 apg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stats  at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Career coaching record | |||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA | 145–101 (.589) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Basketball Hall of Fame as player | |||||||||||||||||||||
| College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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West's NBA career was highly successful. Playing the guard position, he was voted 12 times into the All-NBA First and Second Teams, was elected into the NBA All-Star Team 14 times and was chosen as the All-Star MVP in 1972, the same year that he won the only title of his career. West holds the NBA record for the highest points per game average in a playoff series with 46.3. He was also a member of the first five NBA All-Defensive Teams (one second, followed by four firsts), which were introduced when he was 32 years old. Having played in nine NBA Finals, he is also the only player in NBA history to be named Finals MVP despite being on the losing team (1969). In 1980, West was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and named to the NBA 35th Anniversary Team.[5] West was named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996, and to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.[6][7]
After his playing career ended, West took over as head coach of the Lakers for three years. He led Los Angeles into the playoffs each year and earned a Western Conference finals berth once. Working as a player-scout for three years, West was named general manager of the Lakers before the 1982–83 NBA season. Under his reign, Los Angeles won six championship rings. In 2002, West became general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies and helped the franchise win their first-ever playoff berths. For his contributions, West won the NBA Executive of the Year Award twice: once as a Lakers manager (1995) and then as a Grizzlies manager (2004). West's son, Jonnie, also played college basketball for West Virginia.