NBA legend Jerry West -- the inspiration behind the league's iconic logo -- has sadly died. The Los Angeles Clippers said in a statement the Hall of Famer passed away on Wednesday morning with his wife, Karen, by his side. No further details surrounding his death were released. He was 86 years old. West began his historic career in 1960 ... after the Lakers selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft. He immediately became a star -- averaging 17.6 points per game as a rookie, before totaling 30.8 points per contest in his sophomore campaign. West ended up playing 14 seasons in total in the Association -- all with the Lakers. He made the All-Star team in every season. In 1969, a few years before he officially retired, the NBA created its modern-day logo based off an image of West on the court. Story developing ... https://www.tmz.com/2024/06/12/jerry-west-dead-86/
Outside of Michael Jordan - probably the most important figure in basketball history. One of the three 4 best Lakers ever with Magic, Kareem and Shaq - one of the 15-20 best players in NBA history. At worst - the second best basketball architect ever behind Auerbach. If I could go through out history and have one person run a basketball team - it would be Jerry West. Insane that the Lakers let him get away.
RIP. According to Lakers' legendary broadcaster, Chick Hearns, West had the best jump shot form that he has ever seen. and is how he had often described West's jump shot West, closely guarded by the tenacious defender, like being in an elevator. West stops, pulls up, hits the jumper. while the defender got stuck in the mezzanine, West got up to the first floor and hit the jumper. here is another analysis of the mechanics of his pull up jumper his teammate Elgin Baylor, a fellow HoFer, often poked fun at West's hill-billy roots in W Virginia, calling him the "Zeke from Cabin Creek" and/ or tweety bird
That dude was cold. I always wanted to see him and Jordan playing together in a backcourt and in their prime. Mr. West was a flatout shark...
West and Gail Goodrich were in the Lakers backcourt when I started watching the NBA. He was still a great player late in his career. I can only imagine how great he was as a young player. RIP, a West Virginia legend.
No, damn! He's one of my favorite players of all time and is perhaps the greatest NBA talent as a contributor. HOF player, Exec, was a coach and the Logo. Bill Russell, Walton, and now Jerry West were some of the pillars of the game's history. He had a full life, not more you could ask for. I'll contribute more later
