My man Jerry West is on the Mount Rushmore not only of West Virginia sportsmen but West Virginians period. He will be a huge hole in the heart of all Mountaineers. God's speed Jerry!
i think he said something something along the line of " i don't think that i'll live long enough to see the Lakers win a game 7 in the Finals against the Celtics", "i hope that my kids / grandkids will get to see that" in 1960s, the Lakers (led by HoF West and Baylor) lost to the Celtics (led by Russell and 2 or 3 other HoF) ~~ 5 or 6 times; 3 of them were decided by a game 7
i think Jerry West is better. Auerback did it pre-free agency, when the league was not as competitive. effectively, West built 5 diffrent teams during the free-agency era Show time Lakers (Magic, Worthy. Abdul Jabbar, etc.) Kobe/Shaq Lakers Memphis Grizzilie tho no rings, its win/loss records improved greatly Warriors Clippers out-maneuvered the Lakers to signed Kawi Lwonard
Great / HoF players generally don't make great coaches or sports executives. Jerry West was the exception that proves the rule.
Is it possible to hire a medium to consult with him? His input should be even more valuable now that he's on the Supernatural plane. P.S. - RIP JW. You were the best on all levels of the game, player and management.
Jerry West was a beast as a player, and along with Oscar Robertson, he was a top-flight efficient guard in the '60s with no three-point line and rules tailored for big men to dominate defensively back then. He was clutch, showed up and elevated in the playoffs, totally dominated finals appearances, and was as competitive mentally as guys like Bird, Jordan, or Russell. One thing that was fascinating when I studied him, he was maybe the best defensive guard of his generation. They didn't have DPOY or all-defensive teams for most of his era. He was all defensive from age 29-34 when they finally added the award.
How Jerry West became the NBA logo — and why David Stern, the Commish at the time, never admitted to it David Stern spent 30 years as the NBA’s longest-serving commissioner before handing the title to his longtime lieutenant Adam Silver in 2014. He is credited with shepherding the league through turbulent times and growing it into the global powerhouse it is today. Yet he refused to acknowledge that West was the one, the logo, the iconic silhouette developed in 1969 when West was at the peak of his 14-year Hall of Fame career with the Lakers. Stern’s reason for staying mum is unclear because offering an explanation for something he denied in the first place would have defied logic. Even after the designer of the logo, Alan Siegel, told The Times’ Jerry Crowe in 2010 that “It’s Jerry West,” Stern wouldn’t relent. Siegel was a brand identity consultant hired by then-NBA commissioner J. Walter Kennedy to create a logo that mirrored the one Siegel supervised a year earlier for Major League Baseball’s centennial. The late sportswriter and broadcaster Dick Schaap was Siegel’s friend and gave him access to the photo archives at Sport magazine. “I found this picture of Jerry West dribbling down the court,” Siegel said. “And, of course, growing up in New York and my father having season tickets for college and pro games at Madison Square Garden, I’d seen West play a lot.” Siegel came up with nearly 50 designs, several inspired by the shot of West dribbling taken by Wen Roberts. Kennedy chose the derivative of the baseball logo with its All-American red, white and blue colors. “And in those days, it was top down,” Siegel said. “[Kennedy] made the decision. There was no research. There was no discussion. He said, ‘We’re doing this.’” Adam Silver, who is in his 11th season as commissioner, has come the closest to acknowledging that West, indeed, is the logo. “While it’s never been officially declared that the logo is Jerry West,” he said in 2021, “it sure looks a lot like him.”
