West, Jerry (1938—)

views updated

West, Jerry (1938—)

One of the greatest guards ever to play in the National Basketball Association, Jerry West ("Mr. Clutch") was an All-Star player during his NBA career in the 1960s and early 1970s and later served as head coach and general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the predominant cage teams of the 1980s. West's likeness has since become an icon to basketball fans and the general public as the silhouetted figure in the NBA's logo.

West might be described as an atypical basketball player. He weighed 185 pounds, and his 39-inch arms prompted some observers to comment on his ostrich-like appearance, but his competitive intensity and knack for sinking the last-second shot helped him overcome these deficiencies, earning for him his lifelong nickname, Mr. Clutch. A two-time All-American at the University of West Virginia, West later won a gold medal with the 1960 U.S. Olympic basketball team. He joined the Los Angeles Lakers the same year that another dynamic guard, Oscar Robertson, entered the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks. During the 1960s the two men would emerge as the best shooters in basketball.

West averaged 27 points per game and made the All-Star team every year he played. Four times he averaged more than 30 points a season. He saved his best work for the post-season, averaging 29.1 points in 153 playoff contests and winning or tying numerous games with critical buzzer-beating baskets. Yet, the man who came to symbolize his sport spent much of his career beating back a reputation as a hard-luck player. Six times, West led the Lakers to the NBA finals, only to lose to the Boston Celtics. Finally, in 1972, the team broke through, defeating the New York Knicks in the championship round. "The albatross around my neck," as West called the title drought, was lifted.

A pulled stomach muscle forced West to cut short his playing career in 1974. After a brief and unhappy retirement, he returned to the arena as Lakers head coach from 1976 to 1979. Despite some success, he clashed repeatedly with team owner Jack Kent Cooke and stepped out from behind the bench forever. New owner Jerry Buss convinced him to assume the post of general manager in 1982.

At the time, the Lakers were one of the NBA's premier teams. Star players Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led a potent offense, and head coach Pat Riley lent a Hollywood sheen to the proceedings with his slicked-back hair and expensive suits. Celebrities and swells flocked to the $350 courtside seats at the Lakers' home gym, dubbed "The Fabulous Forum." As general manager, West developed a reputation as the league's most astute evaluator of talent. On numerous occasions, he selected unheralded prospects from obscure colleges who quickly blossomed into productive NBA players. As one longtime friend of West's observed, "He's the only guy I know who went into oil for a tax loss and struck a gusher."

Under West, the Lakers grew into an NBA powerhouse. They won championships for him in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988, and challenged for league supremacy every other year in the decade. The team's up-tempo style of play, dubbed "Showtime," proved an enormously popular marketing angle for the NBA worldwide. While the rivalry between the Boston Celtics' Larry Bird and the Lakers' own Magic Johnson has been widely credited with reviving public interest in professional basketball, it would be no exaggeration to say that Jerry West's careful nurturing of the Laker dynasty also contributed to that resurgence.

—Robert E. Schnakenberg