Jerry West Passes
This is a site centered on Christian faith and community…but it’s also my own site.
So..when I’m crying my eyes out because another part of my life has left me, I’m going to share.
Jerry West was first and foremost a basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers.
A Hall of Fame player…the player that every coach I ever had used as a model for what it meant to be a sportsman…none of us had his talent, but we could all try to model his class as a competitor.
He then became a coach…a Hall of Fame coach.
Then he became an executive…a Hall of Fame executive.
He was a survivor of childhood abuse and suffered from depression…but overcame to become the greatest figure in American basketball history.
He is the NBA logo.
If there is a Hall of Fame for being a gentleman and living with dignity, he will be in that one too.
Godspeed, Jerry…
What did you think of how he was portrayed in the series “Winning Time”?
During the 80s and early 90s, I was the biggest Bird fan you could imagine. What frustrated the dickens out of me was the uncanny way that the Lakers were constantly bringing in outstanding role players to round out the team. I thought it was unfair and somehow illegal. No one else was able to match the Lakers in the field of player trades. How could that be?
But in the end I credit the Lakers’ prowess at recruitment to the genius of Jerry West. He understood the importance and construction of team chemistry. He sold winning over solo accolades. He spoke the players’ language. He worked the numbers better than anyone else. He was one of a kind (in a good way).
Ted Kijeski,
It was pure bull….
I’d like to punch that bunch…
Jean,
Yes…
Of course, the old Lakers-Celtics rivalry was back in the day when the NBA actually played basketball.
My first childhood sports hero.
My first job fresh out of high school I got off at 9:pm, just in time to watch the end of the Laker’s games when I got home on the old B&W TV.
In the wake of the Celtics’ 18th NBA Championship, I will say that Jerry West built a phenomenal franchise with the Lakers. The Celtics-Lakers rivalry over the decades elevated both teams’ play on the court. There have been 77 NBA Championships so far, and almost half of them (35) have been won by just 2 teams (the Lakers and the Celtics).