LOS ANGELES: Jerry West, an iconic Sixties star guard for the Los Angeles Lakers who impressed the NBA brand, died Wednesday (Jun 12) at age 86, the Los Angeles Clippers introduced.
West performed for the Lakers from 1960 by 1974, profitable his solely NBA title in 1972, and was co-captain on the 1960 Rome Olympic US basketball gold medal squad.
In later years, West served as an government on a number of NBA golf equipment, most lately the Clippers.
With spectacular velocity and quickness and a deft taking pictures contact, West was nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his expert shotmaking beneath strain.
Within the 1969 NBA Finals in opposition to the arch-rival Boston Celtics, he acquired the Most Priceless Participant award although the Celtics beat the Lakers for the title.
West was a 14-time NBA All-Star and the league-scoring champion in 1970. His jersey quantity, 44, was retired by the Lakers and he was inducted into the Basketball Corridor of Fame in 1980.
In 1969, the NBA created its present brand, which was the silhouette of West dribbling a basketball, a picture impressed by {a photograph} of West taken throughout a sport.
For his profession, West averaged 27.0 factors, 5.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists a sport.
West, who coached the Lakers from 1976 by 1979, would seize eight titles as an NBA government, 5 with the Lakers within the Nineteen Eighties “Showtime” period with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He additionally was an government for NBA champions with the Lakers in 2000 and Golden State in 2015 and 2017, earlier than leaving to hitch the Clippers.
