Vale Jerry West, a true great of the game
TweetONE of the mesmerising legends of basketball, Jerry West, passed away in his sleep on Wednesday at 86. BOB CRAVEN in the US has the latest on one of the game's all-time great players and administrators, the man behind the Lakers dynasty and often referred to simply as "The Logo".
West was an NBA champion who went into the Hall Of Fame as a player in 1980 and again in 2010 as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 USA Olympic Team. That team generally is recognised as the greatest amateur basketball team ever assembled.
West will also be enshrined for a third time later this year as a contributor, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calling him "one of the greatest executives in sports history."
West helped build eight championship teams during his tenure in the NBA. His silhouette dribbling the ball is also considered to be the basis of the NBA logo.
The NBA has never officially acknowledged that, but three years ago Commish Silver did admit that '"it sure looks a lot like him".
An All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons, West also is a 12-time All-NBA selection, part of the 1972 LA Lakers team that won a championship including a run of 33-straight wins.
He remains the only NBA Finals MVP to come from the losing team. When the Lakers lost to the Celtics in 1969, the first year that award was presented, West's personal success became another individual career milestone.
West is still the NBA Finals' all-time leader in total points. He played in the title series nine times with the Lakers. His teams went 1-2 against the NY Knicks and 0-6 against the Boston Celtics.
He also hit one of the most famous shots in Finals history, an 18-metre shot at the buzzer in Game 3 of the 1970 series between the Knicks and the Lakers to force overtime.
(Author's note: I saw that game and that shot on live national TV, and it's still maybe the most memorable and consequential shot I've ever seen.)
West grew up in (very) rural West Virginia and became the all-time high school points leader in state history. He went to the U. of West Virginia, where he is still the all-time leading scorer, and led them to the NCAA Final in 1959, where they lost to California by one point.
(Another author's note: I also saw that game on live national TV, and my one vivid memory of it—other than who won the game—is seeing West grab a rebound right under the basket and hitting his head on bottom of the backboard. (He was 192cm tall and known to be a good leaper.)
West's two sons by his second wife are both NBA execs, Ryan with the Detroit Pistons and Jonnie, Director of Basketball Operations for the Warriors.
Jonnie is also married to the former Michelle Wie, one of the best and youngest pro golfers ever in the US in her younger days—she turned pro at age 15, the youngest pro ever.