Jerry West

Jerry West (with the ball) in 1971

West made himself available for the 1960 NBA draft, and he was drafted with the second overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers, shortly before the team relocated to Los Angeles. West became the first draft pick ever of the relocated franchise.[20] His college coach was also hired to coach the Lakers. He played West as a guard, in contrast to West's college days as a forward.[8] The Lakers were captained by Hall-of-Fame forward Elgin Baylor, who was complemented by centers Jim Krebs and Ray Felix; forwards Rudy LaRusso and Tom Hawkins; and guards Rod Hundley (from West Virginia, like West), Frank Selvy, and Bobby Leonard.[21] This team perennially had strong forwards and guards, but was constantly weak at center, giving them a disadvantage against the Boston Celtics with their Hall-of-Fame center, Bill Russell.[22]

Initially, West felt odd in his new environment. He was a loner. His high-pitched voice earned him the nickname "Tweety Bird", and he spoke with such a thick Appalachian accent that his teammates also referred to him as "Zeke from Cabin Creek" (his nickname acknowledged his country roots, and his accent was so thick that he squeaked his nickname sheepishly – "Zeek from Cab'n Creek").[23] However, West soon impressed his colleagues with his defensive hustle, with his vertical jump—he could reach up 16  inches above the rim when he went up—and with his work ethic, spending countless extra hours working on his game.[23] On the floor, West scored 17.6 points, grabbed 7.7 rebounds and gave 4.2 assists per game. West won Schaus's trust and, alternating with Hundley, Selvy, and Leonard, played 35 minutes per game and established himself as the Lakers' second scoring option.[15] The NBA commented that the Lakers now had a potent one-two-punch—with "Mr. Inside" (the low-post scorer, Baylor) and "Mr. Outside" (the long-distance shooter, West).[8] These performances soon earned West his first of fourteen NBA All-Star Game call-ups.[15]

West helped the Lakers improve from their previous 25-win season to 36 wins as they reached the 1961 NBA Playoffs. They needed all five games to put away the Detroit Pistons but then lost to the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, losing the final game 105–103.[24]

In West's second NBA season, the Lakers could only make limited use of Baylor, who was called up by the U.S. Army Reserves and could play only 48 games.[23] However, West seamlessly took over the role of team leader and established himself as the main Lakers scorer, averaging 30.8  points, 7.9  rebounds and 5.4  assists per game, winning All-NBA First Team honors.[15] On January 17, 1962, West scored a career-high 63 points in a 129–121 win over the New York Knicks.[25] West became known especially for hitting important late-game shots, and Lakers' announcer Chick Hearn named him "Mr. Clutch" a handle which stuck with West for his entire career.[23]

The Lakers won 54 regular-season games and secured a first-round bye in the 1962 NBA Playoffs. They beat the Pistons four games to two to advance to the 1962 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. The teams split the first two games, and at the end of Game 3 in Los Angeles, West tied the game at 115. The Celtics' Sam Jones inbounded the ball at half-court with three seconds left. West stole the ball, raced upcourt, and converted a running layup as the buzzer sounded.[26] The Celtics tied the series in Game 6 at three games apiece, and the teams headed to Boston for Game 7. For most of the game, the Lakers trailed, but West and Frank Selvy hit several clutch baskets and tied the game at 100. Selvy then missed an open 8-foot shot which would have won the Lakers their first title. Baylor's tip-in attempt was thwarted by Sam Jones.[26] In overtime, Jones scored several clutch baskets to ensure a 110–107 win for the Celtics. The 1962 NBA finals would serve as the beginning of the greatest rivalry in NBA history[26]

In the 1962–63 NBA season, Baylor was back full-time. West averaged 27.8  points, 7.0  rebounds and 5.6  assists and was again NBA All-Star and All-NBA First-Team;[15] however, he played in only 55 regular-season games, missing the last seven weeks due to a hamstring injury.[22] Again, the Lakers reached the finals, and again, they battled the Celtics. With West not yet in shape, Baylor and the Lakers fell back 3–2; then they succumbed in Game 6 in front of their home crowd with a 112–109 loss. As the game ended, veteran Celtics playmaker Bob Cousy threw the ball high into the rafters of the L.A. Sports Arena.[27]

In the following 1963–64 NBA season, West became the Lakers' scoring leader for the first time. His 28.7  points per game eclipsed the 25.4 by Baylor, who stated that he suffered from knee problems.[28] The Lakers struggled during the entire season, winning only 42 games, and were beaten by the Hawks in five games during the first round of the 1964 NBA Playoffs.[29]

The Forum was the home of the Lakers from 1967 until 1999.

In the following 1964–65 NBA season, West averaged 31.0  points (at the time, a career-high), only surpassed by perennial scoring champion Wilt Chamberlain.[15] After ending the regular season with 49 wins, L.A. played the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the 1965 NBA Playoffs, but then team captain Baylor suffered a career-threatening knee injury.[28] West spectacularly took over Baylor's leading role, as he scored 49  points and willed the shocked Lakers to the win. In Game 2, Baltimore was unable to stop the Lakers guard, who scored 52  points, nearly half of L.A.'s  total, in the 118–115 win.[30] The Bullets took their two home games, despite West scoring 44 and 48  points respectively, but in the decisive Game 5 in L.A., the guard helped beat the Bullets with 42  points in a close 117–115 win. West averaged 46.3  points per game, a figure that is still an NBA record.[31] However, in the 1965 NBA Finals, the Celtics easily beat the short-handed Lakers, 4–1. In Game 1, which Boston easily won, defensive Celtics guard K. C. Jones kept West to the only 26  points, and in Game 2, West scored 45  points, but Boston still won 129–123.[32] In Game 3, West scored 49 points, and L.A. finally won a game, but in Games 4 and 5, the Lakers were beaten by double digits; in the last quarter of Game 5, West missed 14 of 15 shots and could not prevent yet another Celtics win.[32] Still, the Lakers guard finished the playoffs with 40.6 points per game.[22]

In the 1965–66 NBA season, West averaged a career-best 31.3 points, along with 7.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. He made an NBA record 840 free throws, and earned yet another pair of All-Star Team and All-NBA First Team nominations.[15] Winning 45 games, the Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks in a close seven-game series, and yet again met the Boston Celtics in the 1966 NBA Finals. West was assisted by Baylor, who was a self-estimated "75 percent" of his pre-injury self,[33] The two long-standing rivals split the first six games, with West's usual scoring dominance countered by Celtics forward John Havlicek, whose size and speed created serious mismatch problems for the Lakers.[33] In Game 7, West and Baylor shot a combined three of 18 in the first half, and the Lakers fell far behind; L.A. willed themselves back to a close 95–93 with four seconds left, but the Celtics ran the clock out and the Lakers were denied yet again.[33]

The 1966–67 NBA season saw West playing only 66 regular-season games due to injury;[22] his averages fell slightly to 28.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.[15] The Lakers had a disappointing season, winning only 36 games and getting swept by the San Francisco Warriors in the first round of the 1967 NBA Playoffs.[34] Veteran coach Fred Schaus retired, and Butch Van Breda Kolff took over; under his reign, the Lakers won 52 games in the 1967–68 NBA season in their first season in The Forum.[35] The 52 wins were accumulated despite West playing only 51 regular season games due to injury[22] and scoring 26.3  points, the lowest average since his rookie year: after being a First-Teamer for six times en bloc, he only made the All-NBA Second Team.[15]

In the 1968 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls and the Warriors to set up yet another Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals; it was considered a match of size versus speed, as the Lakers had nobody to guard Celtics coach/center Bill Russell or forward John Havlicek close to the basket, but the Celtics in return had difficulties guarding prolific L.A. outside shooters Baylor, West and fellow guard Gail Goodrich.[36] In Game 1, West only hit seven of 24 shots, and the Lakers lost 107–101, but L.A. evened out the series at two games each. But West, who had scored 38  points in a Game 4 win, had sprained his ankle and did not play at full strength the rest of the series.[36] In Game 5, an injured West scored 35 points, but Boston won by three points. In Game 6, Havlicek shredded the Lakers with 40  points, and after yet another Finals loss to Boston, West commented that the Lakers lost two games they should have won: "We gave them the first game, and we gave them the fifth. But I take nothing from them... They're all that way on the Celtics, and you can't teach it."[36]

West's No. 44 jersey (upper left) was retired in 1983 and hangs in the rafters of the Crypto.com Arena.

On July 9, 1968, the Lakers made a trade that brought reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers to Los Angeles at the beginning of the 1968–69 NBA season. To get the center, the Lakers traded West's backcourt partner Archie Clark, starting center Darrall Imhoff and backup forward Jerry Chambers to Philadelphia.[37] Coach Van Breda Kolff was concerned about the drain at the guard positions after losing Clark, and especially after losing Goodrich in the expansion draft to the Phoenix Suns. He only had diminutive, defensively weak Johnny Egan left next to West.[37] While West himself got on well with the recruit, Chamberlain often argued with team captain Elgin Baylor and had a poor relationship with Van Breda Kolff. Van Breda Kolff pejoratively called Chamberlain "The Load", and later complained that Chamberlain was egotistical, never respected him, too often slacked off in practice and focused too much on his statistics.[38] In return, the center blasted Van Breda Kolff as "the dumbest and worst coach ever".[38] There was an altercation in which Chamberlain was about to punch Van Breda Kolff before Baylor had intervened.[39] West was disturbed by locker room tension; used to playing on teams with good chemistry, his quality of play became erratic, and his scoring average of 25.9 points was his lowest since his rookie season. However, he made the Second Team of the inaugural All-Defensive Team.[39]

In the 1969 NBA Playoffs, the 55-win Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks and the San Francisco Warriors, setting up the sixth finals series versus Boston in eight years. Before Game 1, West privately complained to Bill Russell of exhaustion, but then the Lakers guard scored 53  points on Boston in a close two-point win.[40] L.A. also took Game 2, with West scoring 41  points.[41] In Game 3, Russell opted to double-team West, and the guard's exhaustion began to show: West twice asked to be subbed for longer periods, and both times the Lakers fell back by double digits and finally lost by six points.[40] Game 4 saw Celtics guard Sam Jones hit an off-balance buzzer beater to tie the series,[41] but in Game 5, the Lakers struck back and won by 13 points; however, they suffered a major blow when West – who scored 39 points and by far led all players in scoring during the entire series – lunged for a meaningless late-game ball and seriously pulled his hamstring: it was immediately visible that the injury would not heal until the end of the series.[40] A limping West scored 26  points in Game 6, but the Celtics won 99–90 with a strong Bill Russell, who held Chamberlain to only eight  points in the entire game.[41] In Game 7, Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had put up thousands of balloons in the rafters of the Forum in Los Angeles. This display of arrogance motivated the Celtics and angered West.[37] The Lakers trailed the entire game and were behind 91-76 after 3 quarters, but powered by a limping West, the Lakers closed the gap to 103–102 with two minutes to go and had the ball. But West committed costly turnovers and L.A. lost the game 108–106 despite a triple-double of 42  points, 13  rebounds and 12  assists from West, who became the only recipient of the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award from the losing team.[41] After the loss West was seen as the ultimate tragic hero: after the game, Bill Russell held his hand, and John Havlicek said: "I love you, Jerry".[40]

In the 1969–70 NBA season under new coach Joe Mullaney, the Lakers' season began with a shock when Wilt Chamberlain seriously injured his knee and missed practically the whole regular season.[42] As after Baylor's injury years before, West stepped into the void, leading the NBA in scoring average with 31.2  points per game, and averaging 4.6  rebounds and 7.5  assists per game, earning him his first of four All-Defensive First Team votes and another All-NBA First Team berth after two Second Team years.[15] The Lakers won 46 games, and in the 1970 NBA Playoffs, they narrowly beat the Phoenix Suns in seven games and swept the Hawks in four, setting up the first NBA Finals between the Lakers and the rugged New York Knicks, led by Hall-of-Famers, such as Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, and Walt Frazier.[43] L.A. and N.Y. split the first two games, with both games respectively decided by centers Reed and the still-hobbling Chamberlain.[43] In Game 3, DeBusschere hit a mid-range jump shot with three seconds left to put the Knicks ahead 102–100, and the Lakers had no time-outs left. Chamberlain inbounded the ball to West, who raced past Walt Frazier and threw up a 60-foot shot. Frazier later commented: "The man's crazy. He looks determined. He thinks it's going in!"[8] West incredibly connected, and this basket was later called one of the greatest moments ever by the NBA.[44] As the three-point line had not been introduced yet, the shot just tied the game. In overtime, West, however, sprained his left hand and missed all five of his shots, and the Knicks won 111–108.[12] In Game 4, the guard scored 37  points and 18  assists, and the Lakers won.[45] However, more frustration awaited West in Game 5, when Reed pulled his thigh muscle and seemed out for the series; instead of capitalizing on a double-digit lead and reeling off an easy win, the Lakers committed 19 second-half turnovers, and the two main scorers Chamberlain and West shot the ball only three and two times, respectively, in the entire second half and lost 107–100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history.[43][45] After Chamberlain scored 45 points and West 31 points plus 13 assists in a series-equalising 135-113 Lakers win, the Lakers seemed favorites prior to Game 7. However, West had also injured his right hand and received several manual injections,[43] and Reed famously hobbled up court before Game 7: the Knicks center scored the first four  points, and inspired his team to one of the most famous playoff upsets of all time.[46] With his injured hands, West still hit nine of his 19 shots, but was outplayed by Walt Frazier, who scored 36 points and 19 assists and was credited with several crucial steals on Lakers guard Dick Garrett.[43][45]

In the 1970–71 NBA season, the Lakers reacquired Gail Goodrich, who came back from the Phoenix Suns after playing for L.A. until 1968. At age 32, West averaged 26.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 9.5 assists,[15] and helped the Lakers win 46 games and make the 1971 NBA Playoffs. After losing Elgin Baylor to an Achilles tendon rupture that effectively ended his career, West himself injured his knee and was out for the season; the short-handed Lakers lost the Western Conference Finals in five games to the championship-bound Milwaukee Bucks, who were led by freshly-crowned Most Valuable Player Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and veteran Hall-of-Fame guard Oscar Robertson.[47]

West in 1972

Before the 1971–72 NBA season, West was smarting from his frequent injuries and losses and considered retirement.[8] The Lakers hired former Celtics star guard and future Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Sharman as head coach. Although injured captain Elgin Baylor ended his career, the Lakers had a season for the ages. The team was powered by Sharman's emphasis on tough defense and fast break offense, and L.A. embarked on an unprecedented 33 game win streak, en route to a then-record 69 wins in the regular season.[48] West himself contributed with 25.8 points and led the league with a career-high 9.7 assists per game. He was named All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defense First Teamer and voted 1972 All-Star Game MVP.[15]

In the postseason, the Lakers defeated the Chicago Bulls in a four-game sweep,[49] then went on to face the Milwaukee Bucks, and defeated them in six games. In the 1972 NBA Finals, the Lakers again met the New York Knicks. Although West suffered a terrible shooting slump during Games 1 and 2, the Lakers tied the series at one win each, and in Game 3, he scored 21 points and helped L.A. win Game 3. In this game, he now had scored 4,002 playoff points, which set an all-time NBA record.[50] After winning Game 4 due to a superb outing from Wilt Chamberlain, West scored 23  points and dished out 9 assists in Game 5, helping the Lakers to win the game and the NBA championship. The championship was West's first-ever NBA title.[50][51] West conceded that he had played a terrible series, and credited the team for the success. Years later he said "I played terrible basketball in the Finals, and we won... It was particularly frustrating because I was playing so poorly that the team overcame me. Maybe that's what a team is all about."[48]

Having vanquished this long-time bane, West entered his 13th NBA year. In the 1972–73 NBA season, the main scoring role was taken by Goodrich, and West was now a playmaker instead of a scorer. However, West averaged 22.8 points, but also averaged 8.8 assists per game, and again was a First Teamer in the All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defense Teams.[15] The Lakers won 60 games and reached the 1973 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. In-Game 1 West scored 24  points before fouling out with three minutes left and L.A. won Game 1 115–112.[52] However, the Knicks took Games 2 and 3, and West strained both of his hamstrings: in Game 4, the shorthanded Lakers were no match for New York, and in Game 5, the valiant, but injured West and Hairston had miserable games, and despite Chamberlain scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, the Lakers lost 102–93 and the series.[53][54]

The 1973–74 NBA season was to be West's last as a player. Now 36 years old, the veteran guard averaged 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game.[15] In two newly introduced statistics, steals and blocks, he was credited with 2.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. Despite playing only 31 games due to a strained groin,[8] West was still regarded as an elite guard, earning another call-up into his final All-Star Game.[15] Without Chamberlain, who had ended his NBA career, the Lakers won 47 games and lost in five games to the Milwaukee Bucks. After this loss, West retired due to contract disagreements with Cooke, and filed a suit for unpaid back wages.[55] West wanted to re-negotiate his contract and keep playing, however, he said Cooke "basically told my agent to go to hell. I felt I was deceived. When you feel that you're deceived you don't want any part of the organization that deceived you. I could've played another very good year. Every athlete says that. But I could've, and I knew I could've. But I could never have played for the Lakers again, and I wasn't going to play for anybody else."[56] At the time of his departure, West had scored more points than any other Laker in franchise history.[22]

Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke was known for a keen eye identifying leadership and teaching qualities (he also gave Hall of Famers Sparky Anderson and Joe Gibbs their first managerial/head coaching positions),[57] and asked West to coach and participate in player personnel decisions.[58] In the 1976–77 season, West became coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. In three years, he led the Lakers and star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to a 145–101 record, making the playoffs all three seasons and reaching the Western Conference Finals in 1977.[59]

After his coaching stint, West worked as a scout for three years before becoming general manager of the Lakers before the 1982–83 seasons. West helped to build the great 1980s Lakers dynasty, also known as Showtime, which brought five championship rings (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988) to Los Angeles.[60]

In 1999, West signed six-time NBA champion coach Phil Jackson.

Those championship-winning Lakers were coached by Pat Riley, and featured superstar players Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. After a slump in the early 1990s, West rebuilt the team of coach Del Harris around center Vlade Divac, forward Cedric Ceballos, and guard Nick Van Exel, which won 48 games, and went to the Western Conference Semifinals. In 1995, West received his first Executive of the Year Award for his role in turning the Lakers around.[61]

West continued to propel the Lakers to championship contender status by trading Divac for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant (1996), by signing free agent center Shaquille O'Neal (also 1996), and by signing six-time NBA champion Phil Jackson as a coach (1999). West departed from the Lakers at the end of the 1999-2000 season.[62] However, he laid down the foundation of the Lakers three-peat, which saw L.A. win three NBA titles from 2000-2002.

In 2002, West became the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies. He explained his decision with the desire for exploring something new: "After being a part of the Laker's success for so many years, I have always wondered how it would be to build a winning franchise that has not experienced much success. I want to help make a difference."[63] West's Memphis stint was not as spectacular as his Los Angeles stint, but he turned a franchise which was about to be sold into a reliable playoffs team, making few trades but getting the maximum from the players he had available (such as Pau Gasol, James Posey and Jason Williams) and signing coach Hubie Brown, who became Coach of the Year in 2004.[64] West himself won his second NBA Executive of the Year Award in the same year.[61] At age 69, West retired as a Grizzlies general manager in 2007 and turned over managing duties to Chris Wallace.[64]

On May 19, 2011, West joined the Golden State Warriors as an executive board member, reporting directly to new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber.[65][66] This role also came with an undisclosed minority ownership stake in the team.[67] In 2015, the Warriors won their first championship in 40 years; the championship was the seventh earned by West while serving as a team executive. He earned his eighth in the 2016–17 season.

On June 14, 2017, West announced that he would go to the Los Angeles Clippers as an executive board member.[68][69]

On December 17, 2020, it was reported that West and the LA Clippers were under investigation by the NBA following a lawsuit filed by John Wilkes against the LA Clippers over the recruitment of Kawhi Leonard to the team.[70]