Jerry West, the legendary Lakers icon who won an NBA championship in 1972 and helped bring Kobe Bryant to the team, has passed away at 86.
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In a statement per KTLA, the Clippers announced West’s death, describing him as, “the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him.”
Born on May 28, 1938, this Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee was an All-American at West Virginia University before playing 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
West played in an era with a much shorter playoff schedule. However, his name remains prominent in the NBA postseason record books. He has amassed 4,457 points (ninth most), 1,622 field goals made (ninth), and 1,213 free throws made (seventh), among other achievements.
During the regular season, West successfully made 7,160 free throws, ranking ninth all-time.
Meanwhile, West guided the Lakers to nine NBA Finals appearances, securing the championship once in 1972.
Due to his late-game heroics, West earned the nickname “Mr. Clutch.” This moniker was further solidified when he made a stunning 60-foot buzzer-beater to tie Game 3 of the 1970 Finals against the Knicks.
He dedicated nearly two decades to the Lakers’ front office, serving as general manager and playing a pivotal role in assembling the legendary “Showtime” teams that secured multiple NBA championships. In 1995, he was appointed as the executive vice president of the Lakers.
Not long after, West also played a crucial role in trading Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Kobe Bryant, whom they had just selected with the No. 13 pick in the NBA Draft.
Jerry West Goes from ‘Mr. Clutch’ to ‘Mr. Logo’
Jerry West wasn’t just known as “Mr. Clutch.” After retiring, many also called him “The Logo” because the NBA’s logo is unofficially based on his silhouette.
The red, white, and blue logo, crafted in 1969 by renowned branding expert Alan Siegel, stands as one of the most iconic symbols in professional sports. Siegel’s friend, esteemed sports journalist Dick Schaap, provided him with a collection of NBA photographs. Among them, an image of West—dribbling with his left hand and driving to the hoop—immediately captured Siegel’s attention.
“I liked the picture because it was a nice vertical and had this motion to it,” Siegel admitted to NBA.com in 2021. “He was one of those people who had an important history in the NBA.”
However, the humble West wasn’t a big fan of the logo bearing his image.
“I wish that it had never gotten out that I’m the logo. I really do,” West explained to ESPN in 2017, per The Undefeated. “I’ve said it more than once. It’s flattering if that’s me — and I know it is me — but it is flattering. … If I were the NBA, I would be embarrassed about it. I really would. … I don’t like to do anything to call attention to myself … that’s just not who I am, period. If they would want to change it, I wish they would. In many ways, I wish they would.”