WEST, Jerry Alan

(b. 28 May 1938 in Cabin Creek, West Virginia), basketball player who helped redefine the guard position in basketball; sucessful head coach; and general manager and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Lakers who built two of professional basketball's greatest dynasties during his tenure in the Lakers' front office.

West grew up in the West Virginia coalfields, where his father was an electrician in the mines and his mother was a homemaker. Demonstrating the commitment that marked his career in athletics, he practiced basketball incessantly, becoming so frail that his physician ordered vitamin injections. West led the tiny East Bank High School to a state championship and became the first high school player in state history to score more than 900 points. He graduated from East Bank in 1956. Among scholarship offers from more than sixty colleges, West chose West Virginia University (WVU), where he followed in the tradition of All-Americans and professional players "Hot" Rod Hundley and Rod Thorn.

In 1956 West led his freshman team to an undefeated season, and each varsity year improved his personal accomplishments. As a sophomore, West averaged 17.8 points per game; as a junior, 26.6, leading the Mountaineers to the national championship in 1959. Scoring twenty-eight points in the championship game, he was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP). West increased his scoring average to 29.3 in 1960, leading the Mountaineers to a 26–5 season, then averaged thirty-five points per game in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. A unanimous All-American in 1959 and 1960, West was subsequently voted to the NCAA Tournament 1950s All-Decade team. In 1958 he played in the Pan-American Games, and in 1960 West and Oscar Robertson led the United States team to an Olympic gold in Rome, Italy. He graduated from WVU with a B.A. in education in 1960.

West was the second player chosen in the 1960 draft by the Lakers, who had just moved to Los Angeles. The team already boasted one outstanding player, Elgin Baylor. West at guard and Baylor at forward formed the nucleus of a squad that would dominate the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Western Division for the next decade. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Boston Celtics dominated the Eastern Division, and the showdowns between these titans resulted six times in Boston victories. In 1969, despite a severe leg injury, West posted 42 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in the championship's final game. Bill Russell, the future Hall of Fame center for the Celtics, commented on that performance. "Los Angeles has not won the championship, but Jerry West is still a champion." West won the tournament finals MVP award, the only time this distinction was given to a member of the losing team.

West was admired by teammate and foe alike as the quintessential pressure performer. He acquired the nickname "Mr. Clutch" after he sank a sixty-three-foot basket as the clock ran out, to send game three of the 1970 championship series into overtime. The nickname confirmed what everyone who followed professional basketball already knew: that West was a premier pressure player. He scored more than fifty points with a broken nose during a 1965 playoff game. West himself believes his best individual effort came in game three of the 1962 finals against the Celtics, when he sank two last-minute jumpers to tie the game, then intercepted an inbounds pass, drove the lane, and scored for a Lakers victory.

The legend of West as the player the Lakers wanted to handle the ball toward the end of a close game probably originated in a contest against the San Francisco Warriors. With the Lakers losing by one point, Coach Fred Schauss called a time-out to diagram a play. West told the huddle, "Throw me the damn ball and get away from me." The Lakers won on his fifteen-footer, and a sports legend was born. When the Lakers, tired of going to the playoffs without bringing home the championship, traded for legendary center Wilt Chamberlain in the 1968–1969 season, the question over lunch and in taverns across America was "Can they go undefeated?" With a dominating scorer and an intimidating rebounder in the lineup, West adapted his game to concentrate on assists and defense. The following year, Baylor and Chamberlain struggled with injuries, so West reemphasized scoring and led the NBA with 31.2 points per game.

The Lakers' dream came true in 1972. West, MVP in the All-Star game, led his team to its first league championship, leading the NBA with 9.7 assists per game and averaging more than twenty-five points. The team set records with thirty-three consecutive victories (the old one was twenty) and sixty-nine wins in a season, a record that stood until the 1995–1996 season. Even as the Lakers achieved the championship, however, the dynasty was crumbling. Baylor retired in 1971, and Chamberlain followed before the 1973–1974 season. West called it quits after thirty-one games that season, saying, "I'm not willing to sacrifice my standards. Perhaps I expect too much." For the first time since West joined the team in 1960, the Lakers failed to make the playoffs in 1974.

When he retired, West was the third player in NBA history to score more than 25,000 career points (25,192). He remains among the top five in career scoring average with twenty-seven points per game. The completeness of West's game is illustrated by his average of 5.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game over his career. He also stole the ball eighty-one times. West was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979, and the Lakers retired his number (44) in 1983. In 1997 he was named among the fifty greatest players in league history. Bob Cousy of the Celtics recalled, "to the end of his career, Jerry wanted to take the last-second shot that meant the game. He wanted that responsibility."

West became head coach of the Lakers in 1976, and that year the team won the Pacific Coast Division with the NBA's best record, but were swept by the Portland Trailblazers in the West Coast finals. The next year, they were eliminated by the Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Division playoffs, then lost to the same team in the semifinal round the following year. A new owner purchased the team, and West resigned in 1979. As head coach, he presided over 145 wins, 101 losses, and 8 postseason victories.

After serving as a special consultant, West became general manager of the Lakers in 1982. Between 1982 and 1990, the Lakers played in seven championship finals, winning in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. Through skillful negotiations and trades, West built the spectacular dynasty the press called "Showtime," which was structured around guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson. After Johnson's sudden retirement, the team struggled in the early 1990s, but West built another dynasty, "Showtime II," that went to playoffs in 1995, when West was named Executive of the Year. Sportswriter Alan Malamud wrote that there can be "no argument that [West] is among the most astute executives in any sport in America." Washington Bullets general manager Bob Frey agreed. "Jerry West, without a doubt, has done the best job of anyone in the NBA." Citing health reasons and forty consecutive years working for the team, West retired on 8 August 2000. The second dynasty he built won championships in both 2000 and 2001.

Following a first marriage that produced three sons but ended in divorce, West married Karen Bua in 1978. They had two sons.

West leaves an unparalleled legacy of dedication and excellence as a player, coach, and executive. During his forty years with the team, the Lakers experienced only seven losing seasons, won fifty or more games in twenty-three, and achieved seven championships. West's steely-eyed determination was captured perfectly when he described his role as team executive: "I take a personal responsibility when we don't win."

As a player, West helped redefine the guard position. Before the 1960s, the position was usually defined as one for smaller men, perhaps under six feet, who could either handle the ball like a wizard (Bob Cousy of the Celtics exemplified this skill) or shoot from the perimeter. Along with Oscar Robertson, West transformed the position into the model that shaped college and professional basketball for the remainder of the twentieth century. West and Robertson combined scoring that featured the modern jump shot and aggressive drives through the lane, with attacking defense and precision ball handling, resulting in many assists, as well as the ability to grab critical rebounds. Their achievements initiated the new guard tradition that has nurtured superstars like Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, and Magic Johnson.

Several professional players have brilliant careers, then move on to success in coaching or management. West uniquely combined all these talents, leading his team to the playoffs every year he played, then again in his three years as head coach, and finally rebuilding the team twice to form two distinct embodiments of one of professional basketball's greatest dynasties. The league's official logo features a player in silhouette; the model was West, whose career is a model of dedication to excellence and athletic discipline.

Print articles on West's life and career include Dave Anderson, "Sports of the Times: Cousy and the All-Time NBA Team," New York Times (2 Nov. 1980); Richard Hoffer, "Mister Clutch, Master Builder," Sports Illustrated (23 Apr. 1990); Allan Malamud, "NBA Finals: Lakers v. Bulls: West Is Still Scoring by Making Some Great Moves," Los Angeles Times (7 June 1991); Daniel Taub, "Lakers Legend," Los Angeles Business Journal (8 Feb. 1999); "Into the Sunset: Jerry West Retires as Lakers' Executive Vice President," CNN-Sports Illustrated (8 Aug. 2000); and Lyle Spencer, "Repeatedly Brilliant: West, Jackson, Shaq, Kobe," Riverside California Press-Enterprise (16 June 2001). The Lakers home page features extensive information on West's career. It can be found at http://www.nba.com/lakers.

David C. Doughertym