West was one of the greatest players in NBA history, redefining the modern shooting guard position in basketball.
Jerry West, an iconic Los Angeles Lakers guard from the 1960s who inspired the NBA logo, died Wednesday at the age of 86, the Los Angeles Clippers announced.
West played for the Lakers from 1960 to 1974, winning his only NBA title in 1972, and was co-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning basketball team in Rome.
Over the next few years, West served as an executive at several NBA clubs, most recently the Clippers.
With impressive speed and quickness and a deft shooting touch, West was nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his ability to shoot under pressure.
In the 1969 NBA Finals against the arch-rivals Boston Celtics, he received the Most Valuable Player award even though 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 the 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, including five with the Lakers in the 1980s “Showtime” era with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He was also an executive for the NBA champions with the 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 talent standard for the original double guard – or shooting guard – for the modern game.
The originality of his game and the beauty of his outside jump shot served as a prototype for shooters for decades, with NBA legends such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant citing West’s stylistic influence in their own games.
