Jerry West, Lakers legend, NBA Hall of Famer dies at age 86

Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers legend and Basketball Hall of Famer, passed away Wednesday morning, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. He was 86.

West, regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time, spent 14 years in the NBA — all with the Lakers. He led the Lakers to his first and only NBA championship as a player in 1972 and was an All-Star in each season he played. Though Los Angeles was defeated by the Boston Celtics in the 1969 NBA Finals, West took home MVP honors. That same year, the NBA came out with its new logo depicting West. The NBA still uses the logo with West forever being known as “The Logo.”

West finished his career averaging 27.0 points, 6.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. He sits 25th on the all-time regular season scoring list and ninth on the all-time postseason scoring list. West was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and had his No. 44 jersey retired by the Lakers in 1983. In 2021, West was named a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

RIP JERRY WEST aka Mr. Clutch aka The Logo!

The only player to ever win NBA Finals MVP on a losing team. He's also 1 of 7 players with scoring & assist titles. Of those 7, he & LeBron are the only ones to make an All-Defensive 1st team. pic.twitter.com/vNWzwc3QC0

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 12, 2024

Prior to his NBA career, West was a two-time All-American at West Virginia, leading the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA Championship Game. West was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player despite losing to Cal in the final. The following year, West and fellow NBA legend Oscar Robertson led the United States to a Gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Jerry West credited with building multiple Lakers dynasties

West retired after the 1973-74 season and two years later, he became the head coach of the Lakers. His tenure as head coach lasted three seasons before he became a scout for the franchise. In 1982-82, he was named general manager, and would go on to build the Lakers’ “Showtime” dynasty of the 1980s. Led by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, the Lakers won five NBA championships during the decade (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988).

After going through a lull in the early 1990s, West once again rebuilt the Lakers into a powerhouse. In 1996, he traded Vlade Divac for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant and signed star center Shaquille O’Neal. In 1999, he brought on then six-time NBA champion Phil Jackson to be the team’s head coach. With those moves, another dynasty was born in Los Angeles. West left the Lakers after the 1999-2000 season, but he was credited with putting the pieces in place for the Lakers’ three-peat from 2000-02.

From there, West had front office stints with the Memphis Grizzlies (2002-07) and Golden State Warriors (2011-17). He joined the Los Angeles Clippers as a board executive and consultant in 2017. He remained in that role up until his passing. West won eight NBA Championships as an executive and was named Executive of the Year in 1995 and 2004.

In 2019, West was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President Donald Trump.