West was one of the greatest players in NBA history, redefining the modern point guard position in basketball.
Jerry West, an iconic 1960s Los Angeles Lakers star who inspired the NBA logo, died Wednesday at age 86, the Los Angeles Clippers announced.
West played for the Lakers from 1960 to 1974, winning their only NBA title in 1972, and was co-captain of USA Basketball’s Olympic Gold Team in Rome in 1960.
In later years, West served as an executive with several NBA clubs, most recently the Clippers.
With impressive speed and quickness and a deft shooting touch, West was nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his shooting ability under pressure.
In the 1969 NBA Finals against archrival Boston Celtics, he received the Most Valuable Player award, although the Celtics beat the Lakers for the title.
West was a 14-time NBA All-Star and the league’s scoring champion in 1970. His jersey number, 44, was retired by the Lakers and he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.
In 1969, the NBA created its current logo, which was a silhouette of West dribbling a basketball, an image inspired by a photograph of West taken during a game.
For his career, West averaged 27.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.
West, who coached the Lakers from 1976 to 1979, would win eight titles as an NBA executive, five with the Lakers in the 1980s “Showtime” era with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He was also an executive with the NBA champion Lakers in 2000 and Golden State in 2015 and 2017 before leaving to join the Clippers.
In 2022, West was recognized as a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team during the 71st NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio.
From a basketball perspective, West will be remembered as the player who redefined the standard of talent from the original two guards – or shooting guards – for the modern game.
The originality of his game and the beauty of his outside shot served as a prototype for shooting guards in the following decades, with NBA legends such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant citing West’s stylistic influence on their own games.
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