RIP JERRY WEST - May 28th 1938 to June 12th 2024
75) The Logo of the NBA is still iconic. The man who inspired it is now deceased at the age of 86.
A quick tribute to THE LOGO OF THE NBA is well-deserved.
Jerry West was not only a hall of fame NBA Player, but he was a Hall of Fame General Manager, too, and his silhouette is also the logo of the NBA.
As GM, Jerry West orchestrated the formation of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers that won 3 titles in the early 2000s. And he played a prominent role in solidifying the iconic “Splash Brothers” title tandem of the Warriors in the 2010s. This is all without even mentioning how significant of a role he played in the league in the 1980s, shortly after his time wearing a jersey.
A friend of mine actually texted me, saying he wishes Jerry West at least lived through the conclusion of the NBA Finals. However, I think there is a great irony in the timing of Jerry West’s untimely death. He couldn’t stand the Celtics. Jerry West played his whole career for the Lakers from the 1960-61 season through the 1973-74 season helping lead them to the Finals nine times in his historic hall of fame fourteen year career.
(Lakers Finals appearances during West’s playing career - 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972* and 1973)
They only won the championship one time, in 1972*. With a Finals Record of 1-8, the Jerry West lead Lakers played the Knicks in the Finals three times going 1-2 against them. They played the Celtics 6 times, going 0-6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_champions
Jerry West enacted some vengeance against the Celtics when he was General Manager of the 1980s Show Time Lakers, lead by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The two iconic franchises met three times in the Finals in that decade, and the Lakers won 2 out of 3. First they lost to the Larry Bird lead Celtics in 1984, but beat them in 1985 and again in 1987. https://jeffpearlman.com/showtime/
I don’t know how sick Jerry West was, so I don’t want to make light of his passing. But, he might actually be glad he didn’t live to see the Celtics win another championship.
After two games of this year’s 2024 finals, it sure looks like the Celtics will win another one real soon! I’m sure we fans will all have a much better idea after tonight’s much anticipated Game 3 when the Celtics face off against the Mavs.
Stay Tuned for PART II of The Most Memorable NBA Champions, dropping by the end of this week.
- JPJ
PS - Here are two stories on the short-lived HBO Show called “Winning Time” on the 1980s Showtime Lakers. Jerry West was a prominent character in this show. Although, many have argued that West’s character portrayal was more of a caricature of the man, than any semblance of a real depiction of who he really was.
