Years after a game in which he hit 16 of 17 shots from the field, sank all 12 free throw attempts, and notched 12 rebounds, 12 assists and 10 blocked shots, West told the National Sports Daily, Defensively, from a team standpoint, I didnt feel I played very well. [8] West demonstrated his tenacity for the game in a match against the Kentucky Wildcats. Jerry West is a legendary Lakers guard. Of the 87 regular season matchups, West holds a 50-37 lead, though Robertson outscored his counterpart by 28.5 to 27.7 points per game. When West remembers the Rome Olympics, it takes him back to a different era. [37] Coach Van Breda Kolff was concerned about the drain at the guard positions after losing Clark, and especially after losing Goodrich in the expansion draft to the Phoenix Suns. [40] Game 4 saw Celtics guard Sam Jones hit an off-balance buzzer beater to tie the series,[41] but in Game 5, the Lakers struck back and won by 13points; however, they suffered a major blow when West who scored 39points and by far led all players in scoring during the entire series lunged for a meaningless late-game ball and seriously pulled his hamstring: it was immediately visible that the injury would not heal until the end of the series. His ferocity rarely, if ever, rubbed players, coaches or fans the wrong way. For the rest of his illustrious career, West would average at least 20 points per game each year, including 25+ points per game for the next decade with four seasons above 30 points per game. Van Lier: Condition:--not specified. This worldview of modern basketball wouldnt have spread if it wasnt a generational thing. He earned his eighth in the 201617 season. Jerry West's NBA Finals Record. [82], As a person, West was often described as an introverted and nervous character, but who also drew the highest praise for his uncompromising work ethic. 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, a squad that was inducted as a unit into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. Equally legendary was Wests tolerance for pain. His high-pitched voice earned him the nickname "Tweety Bird", and he spoke with such a thick Appalachian accent that his teammates also referred to him as "Zeke from Cabin Creek" (his nickname acknowledged his country roots, and his accent was so thick that he squeaked his nickname sheepishly "Zeek from Cab'n Creek"). [23] On the floor, West scored 17.6points, grabbed 7.7rebounds and gave 4.2assists per game. Very rarely was I satisfied with how I played. This obsessive quest for perfection was a constant during Wests playing years, and it continued in his later roles as coach and general manager of the Lakers and in similar front-office roles he held with the Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers. West was chosen four times to Oscar's none. You still have to shoot, rebound, pass and play defense," said Robertson, who was honored with West at The Q on Thursday in the 50th anniversary year of their Olympic basketball triumph for the USA in 1960 in Rome. Jerry West was an All-NBA performer in 12 of his seasons. Winning bid: US $23.50 [ 10 bids] Shipping: $3.99 Standard . Kareem said Oscar was better than Magic. Oscar might dispute the analogy, though. He was also at the forefront of rebuilding the Lakers into championship shape by adding Shaquille ONeal as a free agent and trading for Kobe Bryant, who entered the NBA out of high school in 1996. Jerry West was a 12-time All-NBA performer who knew how to elevate his game when the lights shined the brightest. "[86], In 2011, West and bestselling author Jonathan Coleman wrote a memoir entitled West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life. The team reached the NCAA championship game in 1959 but lost to the University of California. He left the game holding records for career postseason scoring and the highest average in a playoff series. Oscar was sitting right there. [61] At age 69, West retired as a Grizzlies general manager in 2007 and turned over managing duties to Chris Wallace.[64]. Clutch". A loss just ripped his guts out., Its no wonder. Fourteen seasons, 25,192 points, 6,238 assists and 5,366 rebounds later, he had become one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. West departed from the Lakers at the end of the 1999-2000 season. Although injured captain Elgin Baylor ended his career, the Lakers had a season for the ages. [67] In 2015, the Warriors won their first championship in 40 years; the championship was the seventh earned by West while serving as a team executive. [89], This article is about the basketball player. One of his great joys was playing with Jerry West, Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas on the gold medal-winning 1960 Olympic team. Jerry West. As an encore to his historic season, Robertson remained a nightly triple-double threat, shooting a career-best 51.8% in 1962-1963 and putting up 28.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game to narrowly miss out on another triple-double season. The Celtics' Sam Jones inbounded the ball at half-court with three seconds left. [81] They have two sons, Ryan and Jonnie. On October 19th in 1960, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson made their NBA debut for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cincinnati Royals respectively. Additionally, Robertson also remains #1 all-time in career triple-doubles with 181; the only other players in NBA history with more than 100 career triple-doubles are Russell Westbrook (138, as of the end of the 2018-2019 season), Magic Johnson (138), and Jason Kidd (107). [ 1] They were also both on the gold medal winning team at the 1959 Pan American Games. Teams. Moreover, half the battle is actually being on the court and so Robertsons better durability also gives him another slight edge in this close head-to-head matchup. "I was one of the fortunate ones selected as a player and to be a part of a team," West said. He has profusely praised Oscar Robertson and others in his era. [8], West attended East Bank High School in East Bank, West Virginia from 1952 to 1956. Fittingly, Thomas remembered the Big O agreeing with Wests assessment. [32] In Game 3, West scored 49points, and L.A. finally won a game, but in Games 4 and 5, the Lakers were beaten by double digits; in the last quarter of Game 5, West missed 14 of 15 shots and could not prevent yet another Celtics win. Then as now, it is rings that really validate the best. West helped to build the great 1980s Lakers dynasty, also known as Showtime, which brought five championship rings (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988) to Los Angeles. West logged similar averages as a rookie after the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him second overall behind Oscar Robertson, but his scoring nearly doubled in his second season. Both scored a ton. RT @LakersLead: Blake Griffin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West are the only other rookies to have a 30/15/10 game . [40] A limping West scored 26 points in Game 6, but the Celtics won 9990 with a strong Bill Russell, who held Chamberlain to only eight points in the entire game. But West committed costly turnovers and L.A. lost the game 108106 despite a triple-double of 42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists from West, who became the only recipient of the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award from the losing team. Oscar Robertson vs Dominique Wilkins We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. @Sen_JoeManchin, "Jerry West demands retraction of his 'cruel' portrayal in 'Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jerry_West&oldid=1141917828, Career statistics and player information from, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 15:05. Jerrys closest brother, David, was killed in the Korean War when Jerry was 12. Unexpectedly, most of the coaches changed direction as suddenly as a team that just had the ball stolen at midcourt. He and the Lakers routinely experienced heartbreak at the hands of the Boston Celtics. He explained (h/t YouTube) that Wests appraisals of Robertson solidified the Big Os greatness that much more. [22], Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke was known for a keen eye identifying leadership and teaching qualities (he also gave Hall of Famers Sparky Anderson and Joe Gibbs their first managerial/head coaching positions),[57] and asked West to coach and participate in player personnel decisions. In 2002, West became general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies and helped the franchise win their first-ever playoff berths. Oscar Robertson. It is an honor to know him and to have competed against him. Indeed, The Logo is still the only player to win Finals MVP as a member of the losing team. The Lakers seven-game defeat at the hands of the Celtics in the 1962 Finals was particularly heartbreaking. In addition to their regular season performances, Robertson and West were both consistent presences in the postseason and led their teams admirably for a number of years. He was also a member of the first five NBA All-Defensive Teams (one second, followed by four firsts), which were introduced when he was 32 years old. Isiah Thomas potentially snubs Michael Jordan as he labeles The Flash as the best Chicago athlete. [83] Apart from being shy, West was always restless: Schaus described him as a "bundle of nerves", Celtics contemporary Bob Cousy as "always on the move", and fellow Laker and Mountaineer Rod Hundley testified that during bar visits, West would quickly squirm and demand to go elsewhere before everybody else had settled. "Not a day goes by when I don't think about that Olympic experience.". After practice he would listen to West Virginia basketball games on the radio. West and Co. got their revenge the following season, as The Logo led the NBA in assists and LA got a legendary game from Wilt Chamberlain en route to a title. There were fewer jobs, and the ones that were open were filled by players who had spent multiple years in college. Jerome Alan West (Cheylan, 28 de maio de 1938) um ex-jogador de basquetebol norte-americano que atualmente exerce a funo de Conselheiro nos Clippers. In the 197273 NBA season, the main scoring role was taken by Goodrich, and West was now a playmaker instead of a scorer. [16] He was also named to be a member of the U.S. Pan American Games basketball team that won the gold medal. [14] In his first varsity year under head coach Fred Schaus, West scored 17.8points per game and averaged 11.1rebounds; he also started in all 28 games while shooting 49.6% from the field and 73.2% from the free throw line. [8] West eventually became the team's starting small forward, and he quickly established himself as one of the finest West Virginia high school players of his generation. The Minneapolis Lakers chose West with the second overall pick . He spoke with a high pitched voice that became even shriller when he became excited so that Lakers captain Elgin Baylor dubbed West "Tweety Bird". 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