Jerry Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames include "Mr. Clutch," for his ability to make a big play in a clutch situation, such as his famous buzzer-beating 63-foot (19-m) shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks; "The Logo," in reference to his silhouette being incorporated into the NBA logo; and "Zeke from Cabin Creek," after the creek near his birthplace of Chelyan, West Virginia. Playing the small forward position early in his career, West was a standout at East Bank High School and at West Virginia University, leading the WVU Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship game, earning Most Valuable Player honors despite the loss. He then embarked on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was the co-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome, a squad that would be inducted as a unit into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
West’s NBA career was highly successful. Playing the guard position as a professional, he was voted 12 times into the All-NBA First and Second Teams, was elected into the NBA All-Star Team 14 times, and was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star game in 1972, the same year that he won his only NBA championship ring. He is the all-time NBA record holder of points-averaged during a playoff series (46.3) and, as a testament to his two-way play, a member of the first four NBA All-Defensive Teams, which were introduced when he was 32 years old. Having played in nine NBA Finals, he is also the only player in NBA history to have won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award despite being on the losing team (1969). West was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and voted as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996.
After his playing career, West was head coach of the Lakers for three years, leading Los Angeles into the playoffs each year and earning a Western Conference Finals berth once. Working as a player-scout for three years, West was named General Manager of the Lakers prior to the 1982–83 NBA season. Under his reign, Los Angeles won seven championship rings. In 2002, West became general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies and helped the franchise win their first-ever playoff berths. For his contributions, West won the NBA Executive of the Year Award twice, once as a Lakers manager (1995) and then as a Grizzlies manager (2004). West's son, Jonnie, is currently a senior for the West Virginia Mountaineers basketball squad.
Early life
Jerry Alan West was born into a poor household in Chelyan, West Virginia. West was born as the fifth of six children of his mother Cecil Sue West, a housewife, and her husband Howard Stewart West, a coal mine electrician. West was a shy, introverted boy, who became even more withdrawn when his closest brother David died in the Korean War at age 22 when Jerry was 12. He was so small and frail that he needed vitamin injections from his doctor and was kept apart from children's sports, to prevent him from getting seriously hurt. Growing up, his main distraction was shooting at a basketball hoop that a neighbor had nailed to his storage shed. West spent years shooting baskets from every possible angle, ignoring mud in the backyard, his mother's lashes when he came home hours late for dinner, and playing with gloves when the ground was covered with snow. West spent his childhood days hunting, fishing, and playing basketball so often that the NBA acknowledged it as "obsessive".
High school
West attended East Bank, West Virginia, High School from 1952–56. During his first year, he was mostly benched by his coach Duke Shaver due to his lack of height. However, Shaver emphasized the importance of conditioning and defense, lessons which the teenager appreciated. Soon, West became the captain of the freshman team and, during the summer of 1953, he grew to 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m).
Eventually becoming the team's starting small forward, West quickly established himself as one of the finest West Virginian high school players of his generation. He was named All-State from 1953–56, then All-American in 1956 when he was named West Virginia Player of the Year, becoming the state's first high-school player to score more than 900 points in a season, averaging 32.2 points per game. West's mid-range jump shot became his trademark and he often used it to hit high-pressure baskets. West led East Bank to a state championship on March 24 that year, prompting East Bank High School to change its name to "West Bank High School" every year on March 24 in honor of their basketball prodigy, until its closure in 1999.
Player profile
West was an all-around combo guard who could take the playmaking roles of a point guard and score like a shooting guard, while being equally strong on offense and on defense. He had a jump shot with a release the NBA lauded as "lightning quick", and was known for making baskets late in the game, earning him the nickname "Mr. Clutch". Having played forward early in his career, West was also a capable rebounder, and gifted with long arms, quick hands and strong defensive instincts, West was also one described as one of the best ball hawks, man-to-man defenders and shot blockers among NBA guards. when the All-Defensive Teams were introduced in 1969, West made every one of them until his career ended in 1974. "He stole more than anybody, although they didn't keep records on it then," said Sharman. However, contemporaries were most impressed by West's work ethic, obsessively practicing and shooting and rarely being satisfied with himself.
West's all-round game and attitude is maybe best expressed in his statistically most spectacular game: he once was credited with 44 points (16 of 17 shots from the field, 12 of 12 free throw attempts) with 12 rebounds, 12 assists and (unofficially counted) 10 blocked shots, thus scoring a non-official ultra-rare quadruple double. Instead of being proud, West merely commented: "Defensively, from a team standpoint, I didn't feel I played very well. Very rarely was I satisfied with how I played."
Sedikit yang mengetahui bahwa siluet dalam logo NBA adalah bintang NBA sepanjang masa. Dia adalah Jerry West, pentolan Los Angeles Lakers.
Pemain yang kerap dijuluki Mr Clutch ini disebut-sebut sebagai guard terbaik dalam sejarah NBA. Bukan hanya karena tinggi badan dan aspek atletisnya, melainkan juga karena seringnya insiden berdarah yang menimpa dirinya.
Setidaknya sembilan kali Jerry West mengalami patah tulang hidung saat bertanding. Ia juga tak jarang harus dibopong, bahkan ditandu saat keluar dari lapangan karena cedera yang dialaminya.
West sendiri tercatat 14 kali masuk dalam All Star Team, namun baru satu kali memenangi pertandingan. Ia menjadi orang ketiga yang mencetak lebih dari 25 ribu poin, di mana di tiap pertandingan rata-rata ia membukukan 27 poin. Tahun 1997, West dimasukkan dalam daftar 50 pemain terbaik dalam sejarah NBA.
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