The Los Angeles Clippers announced that Jerry West, the NBA legend whose play earned him the title on the league’s logo and whose basketball acumen led the team to multiple championships, died on Wednesday.
The 86-year-old had worked as an adviser to the Clippers since 2017.
“Jerry West, the epitome of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him, passed away peacefully this morning at the age of 86,” the Clippers’ statement said. “His wife, Karen, was at his side.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called West a “basketball genius” and a “defining” figure for the league.
“I treasured my friendship with Jerry and the knowledge he shared with me over the years about basketball and life,” Silver said in a statement. “On behalf of the NBA, I offer my deepest condolences to Jerry’s wife Karen, his family and his many friends in the NBA community.”
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer was an All-American at West Virginia University before playing 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Even though West’s career began in an era with a much shorter playoff schedule, his name still resides in many NBA postseason record books: 4,457 points (9th), 1,622 made baskets (9th) and 1,213 free throws made (7th), just to name a few.
In regular season games, West has made 7,160 free throws, ninth-most in the history of the game.
West’s lasting impact on sports for generations should never be underestimated.
Modern NBA fans know him as “The Logo,” and his silhouette has become the most foregrounded image in professional basketball.
Baby Boomers know West as “Mr. Clutch,” the player always willing to take the game-winning shot, famously hitting a 60-foot buzzer-beating shot against the New York Knicks to send Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals into overtime.
Older fans may know West as “Zeke from Cabin Creek,” a bit of a geographical challenge, as West grew up in Chelian, West Virginia, rather than in neighboring Cabin Creek.
“Today is one of the saddest days for West Virginia University and the state of West Virginia.” WVU Athletic Director Len Baker “We have lost the greatest Mountaineer of all time, and we will never see another like Jerry West,” he said in a statement.
Before turning professional, West played on the 1960 gold medal-winning United States team, generally considered the greatest amateur team in world basketball history.
Coach Pete Newell had future Hall of Famers Walt Bellamy, Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson and West on his team, who averaged more than 42 points per game that summer in Rome.
West continued his feat as a professional, leading the Lakers to nine NBA Finals appearances and winning one championship in 1972.
He spent nearly two decades in the Lakers front office, serving as general manager and helping to build the famed “Showtime” team.
Under West’s various managerial stints, the Lakers won NBA titles in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 2000.
West later worked for the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors, and was in the Golden State front office when the Warriors won championships in 2015 and 2017, earning his seventh and eighth championship rings as an executive.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob grew up in Massachusetts as a fan of the West rival Boston Celtics and said he always looked up to the NBA great.
“To me, he was basketball. He was the embodiment of not only the actual game, but the competitive spirit.” Lacob said in a statement. “He was the most competitive person I’ve ever met who wanted nothing but greatness. He had to win. That was what drove him. He was larger than life. He was an icon.”
Lacob added, “We are heartbroken by the news of his passing today and our prayers and support go out to his wife Karen, his entire family and the NBA community.”
West won the NBA Executive of the Year award in 1995 with the Lakers and in 2004 with the Grizzlies.
“Jerry’s four decades with the Lakers included success as a head coach and outstanding front office performances that cemented his reputation as one of the greatest executives in the history of sports,” Silver said. “He helped build eight championship teams during his NBA tenure, a legacy of accomplishments that reflects his excellence on the court.”
West’s impact on professional basketball can be seen every time an official league statement appears on NBA letterhead or whenever someone wears NBA merchandise.
Designed by branding guru Alan Siegel in 1969, the red, white and blue logo remains one of the most enduring images in North American sports.
Siegel’s friend, the well-known sports journalist Dick Sharp, handed him an NBA photo file, and the image that caught his eye was of West dribbling with his left hand and charging toward the basket.
“I always looked up to him, and I liked that photo because it was vertical and had movement,” Siegel told NBA.com in 2021. “I was a fan of his and he was one of the guys that made important history in the NBA.”
At the time, Segel didn’t reveal that West was the inspiration for the famous silhouette, but it was obvious to many fans.
“When we designed the logo, we never mentioned that it was based on a photograph of him,” he said. “We only discovered it years later.”
In recent years, West has become a mental health advocate and has spoken publicly about his struggles with depression that began as a childhood growing up in impoverished rural West Virginia with an abusive father.
“Well, like a lot of people, I’ve been through some really dark times in my life,” West said on The Rich Eisen Show in 2022.
“I don’t know what triggered it, but it brought me back to some of the things I saw as a child that were not good for a loving, nurturing family. It was really hard for me.”
West was deeply upset about his role as an angry, uncontrollable executive in the HBO series “Winning Time.”
HBO did not apologize to West but said “Winning Time” should be viewed as a drama rather than a documentary.
