RIP Jerry West

Deserves own thread.

 

An entire generation will know this legend only as a miserable, trophy-throwing lunatic.

Both my childhood hero 44s are gone (Aaron, West).

 

This is a tough one. West was my first sports idol growing up in LA.

Heard about it on the Dan Patrick Show and Dan, who also idolized Jerry, is having a hard time keeping it together.

 

Yes, it absolutely does.
Highly recommend his book West by West.
Don't know if I've ever read one where the author was so candid about himself.
In many ways, a tormented soul.
Rest in peace, Mr. West.

 

When I think of West I remember that 60-foot desperation shot in the 1970 NBA finals. He and Havlicek epitomized clutch play at the time.

 

A decade ago I’d been trying to get an interview with West for months, working through Golden State’s PR. Finally one morning my home phone rang from an unfamiliar number. Picked it up and heard “This is Jerry West.” He was then a fantastic interview for the next half hour. Ten seconds after I hung up I was texting my dad and uncles, old Minneapolis Laker fans who stayed fans with the move to LA, because West had been their childhood idols.

Sad that the rift with the Lakers meant it was the Clippers announcing his passing.

 

How strange it sounds to read the announcement came from the Clippers, not the Lakers (I know he was working for them). No matter what other teams he worked for, he's always a Laker to me.

However realistic it might have been, his portrayal in "Winning Time" wasn't especially flattering, and unfortunately that might be how a generation of people who never saw him play will remember him. I was lucky enough to see him play against the Braves several times.

From poverty in the backwoods of West Virginia to Hollywood stardom. Quite an American story.

 

Wilt thought it won the game and had to be retrieved from the locker room, for the shot only sent the game to OT. The Lakers lost.


As portrayed in "Winning Time," West's malaise after the team's 1972 title was real. He shot terribly the whole series, and Wilt said he really didn't partake in the postgame celebration "because he couldn't stand not being Mr. Clutch."

 

His WVU career was so long ago that he was twice Southern Conference POTY.

RIP. I don’t think the Winning Time stuff will be even a speck on the radar when people remember him.