Jerry West, who was chosen thrice to the Basketball Corridor of Fame in an illustrious profession as a participant and government, and whose silhouette is taken into account the inspiration for the NBA emblem, died Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Clippers reported. He was 86 years outdated.
West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his success within the decisive moments of the video games, was an NBA champion who entered the Corridor of Fame as a participant in 1980 and as soon as once more as a member of the lads’s staff that in 1960 gained the Olympic gold medal in 2010. He can be inducted for the third time this yr as a taxpayer.
“One of many nice executives within the historical past of sports activities,” declared the NBA commissioner. “He put collectively eight championship groups throughout his time within the NBA, a triumphant legacy that goes hand in hand together with his excellence on the court docket.”
West was “the embodiment of basketball excellence and a good friend to all who knew him,” the Clippers stated in saying his dying. West’s spouse, Karen, was at his aspect when he died, the Clippers stated. West labored as an advisor to the Clippers for the previous seven years.
He was chosen to the NBA All-Star Recreation in every of 14 seasons within the league and was named “All-NBA” on 12 events. He was a part of the 1972 Lakers staff that gained a championship and was the NBA Finals MVP as a part of a dropping staff in 1969, in addition to making the league’s seventy fifth anniversary staff.
“He was for sure my basketball guru: shrewd, loyal and really humorous,” stated Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer. “In entrance of his presence, you felt his competitiveness and ambition. He was conscious of every part and everybody.”
West was basic supervisor of eight NBA championship groups with the Los Angeles Lakers, one of many architects of the “Showtime” dynasty that had Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as bastions. He additionally labored within the entrance places of work of the Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and Clippers.
Lots of his choices as a Lakers government have been sensible. He chosen Johnson and James Worthy within the draft. Throughout one week in July 1996 he managed to drag off a commerce to herald a youthful Kobe Bryant, adopted by signing Shaquille O’Neal in free company, so as to add extra crowns.
His basketball profession spanned generations. West together with Elgin Baylor, whom he referred to as “essentially the most caring and biggest participant of that period, and Wilt Chamberlain. Even within the final years of his life, West was seen as a fantasy. He used to sit down entrance row at Summer time League video games in Las Vegas, typically watching a number of video games a day and greeting many gamers — LeBron James — who got here as much as shake his hand.
On social media, James provided his condolences: “I’ll actually miss our conversations my expensive good friend! My ideas and prayers to his great household! Relaxation in Paradise my good friend!”
West ranks twenty fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring chart. The league has by no means confirmed that West is the mannequin for its emblem — a participant who dribbles with the ball, with a crimson and blue background — nevertheless it has not denied it both.
“Whereas it has by no means been formally said that the emblem is Jerry West, the reality is that it seems so much like him,” Silver famous in 2021.
