Back when it was still basketball. RIP.
Now that West is gone, expect them to change the NBA logo.
what a great athlete and man. always my favorite Laker. RIP.
Which would make a damned good team for three-on-threes.
2 ๐
Rest In Peace, Jerry.
Person recollection: I was at the last NBA game in the old Madison Square Garden on 50th Street and 8th Avenue, in 1968, Knicks vs. Lakers. Willis Reed (not a dirty player) broke West’s nose. (It was broken eight times in his career.) I was with a bunch of high school classmates. The Lakers, who played the Celtics in the finals that year were romping, and the place was cleared out. We “infiltrated” abandoned courtside seats, behind the Lakers bench towards the end of the game. West was sitting with a towel on his bloody nose and a grimace on his face. Great memory.
The Logo. R.I.P.
A highly-underrated player who unfortunately lived in the shadow of Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He will be missed.
Great player and overall decent guy. For a Laker.
He always exuded class! One of the very best. Boy, could the current NBA learn from him. RIP
My dad used to get Laker tickets from work. I went to a couple of dozen non playoff games. Jerry West always got about 25-30 points each game no matter how he was guarded. Double team. Triple team. Didn’t matter. 27 points.
I do wonder if the Golden State Warriors would have won the first three titles under the Joe Lacob ownership if West hadn’t been around as a direct advisor to Lacob. West knew more about basketball than Lacob ever will.
West was the fore runner of what turned into a shooting guard that set the standard for players like Jordan. West’s claim to fame was he shot a career percentage close to 50% and was the second outlet for Lakers during his career when they brought it back out from Chamberlain and Baylor.
wy69
Zeke from Cabin Creek
One of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time. RIP Jerry West.
SO many great stories here. He was one of the demonstrating pros, along with Jerry Lucas, at my (now) husband’s basketball camp (he was 12). Hubby was walking by the two Jerrys playing horseshoes and they called over to him asking if he knew how to play - happens he did! They played horseshoes every morning that week and West spent a half an hour one day showing hubby how to shoot. I watched him bawl his eyes out for 10 minutes today - West was indeed such a good man, genuine, and greatly impacted hubby’s life. Plus he truly was Mr. Clutch :)
Rest in peace.