Jerry West, who has died aged 86, was a unique force in basketball for the better part of seven decades. A star for the Los Angeles Lakers for 14 years, not only is West still considered one of the top handful of players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, but in his second career in management he built two separate dynastic Laker teams, turned around the struggling Memphis Grizzlies, and as a consultant played a part in the run of success of the Golden State Warriors. As if that were not enough, West was also the model for the NBA’s logo, a silhouette of him dribbling the ball in his left hand, which led to his enduring nickname, “The Logo”.
Great players often need more than one nickname to fully define them; the Los Angeles announcer Chick Hearn dubbed West “Mr Clutch”, after his penchant for making game-winning shots. Yet West’s individual talent was often diminished by his teams’ inability to clear the final hurdle. His most famous shot, a 60-footer that tied the New York Knicks at the buzzer in the 1970 NBA finals and sent the game into overtime, still wound up a Laker loss.
