How Good Was Jerry West Actually?

Bill Russell was so stressed about winning that he threw up before every game Kobe had the Mamba mentality and trained 10 hours per day Jordan was so intense during practice that he punched Steve Kerr in the face almost every great player in NBA history gave everything he had to be the best but not even Kobe or Jordan were as obsessed with basketball as Jerry West here is the tragic story of how Jerry developed into the best shooting guard of the 60s became the NBA logo and how he nearly took his own life because of basketball born in 1938 Jerry West was the fifth of six children and his father made him obsessed with sports but not in the way you might think Howard West was poor and drank a lot so even the smallest mistake was enough for him to take out his belt and beat up his kids Jerry's Older Brother David was his biggest protector against dad but then David got sent to the Korean War and got killed in combat Jerry lost his favorite person in the world and the trauma turned him into a highly introverted person and because he was extremely small and frail doctors forbade Jerry to play sports with other children all he could do was shoot at an old basketball hoop in the neighbor's yard to avoid his father Jerry would spend all his days hooping making shots from every possible angle even when it was raining in his freshman year of high school Jerry rode the bench but over the summer he grew to six foot three quickly transforming into one of the best players of his generation West made the All-State team three years in a row and as a senior in 1956 he was named West Virginia Player of the Year with an average of 32.2 points per game with a silky smooth jump shot that he perfected in the backyard he led East Bank to a state championship on top of dominating basketball Jerry was also the best Sprinter and high jumper in his high school while half the country offered him a scholarship Jerry eventually chose to stay in his home state and attend West Virginia University where he led the freshman team to a 17-0 record his teammate said Wes didn't have any girlfriends during his first two years of college Jerry was always alone with his thoughts talking a little bit with his teammates on the court that was it West never drank he went straight home after practice practice and he poured all of his energy into basketball Jerry was also incredibly hard on himself and he hated losing but all that self-criticism made Jerry practice even harder and during his junior year he averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds per game he tied the NCAA five-game tournament record of 32 points per game and pushed his team to the finals but despite Jerry's 28 points and 11 rebounds West Virginia suffered a 71-70 loss to California and what would be the first out of many tough pills to swallow still Jerry had plenty to be happy about he was named most outstanding player of the final four All-American and Conference Player of the Year in three years on the varsity team he averaged 25 points and 13 rebounds per game after college West and Oscar Robertson co-captained the U.S men's basketball team at the 1960 summer olympics where they won the gold medal Oscar and Jerry were then selected as the first two picks of the 1960 NBA draft West was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers of few months before they relocated to Los Angeles when he got to La Jerry still wasn't very social his teammates started calling him Tweety Bird due to his high-pitched voice but it didn't take long for everyone to stop teasing Cherry at six foot three and 175 pounds West was on the smaller side but what he lacked in size he more than doubled in tenacity and defensive hustle Jerry had no regard for his body and would throw himself after every loose ball and during his career he broke his nose a dozen times West was also extremely athletic due to his track and field background and could fly 16 inches Above the Rim because of his fighting spirit and maniacal work ethic Jerry quickly earned the respect of his teammates and the entire NBA as a rookie Jerry averaged 17 points eight rebounds and four assists per game because of his shooting prowess West earned the nickname Mr outside while the powerful small forward Elgin Baylor became Mr inside due to his Unstoppable drives to the basket before Jerry arrived the Lakers had had five consecutive losing Seasons but West immediately pushed them to 11 more wins and a playoff berth where they lost to the Hawks in game 7 of the Western Conference Finals in his second season Jerry was given the keys to the team because Elgin Baylor had to serve in the Army West used his opportunity to the fullest averaging 30 points per game and on January 17 1962 West scored a career-high 63 points against the New York Knicks West became known for hitting important late-game shots and longtime Lakers announcer chick Hearn named him Mr Clutch Jerry made first team all-nba and pushed the Lakers to the best record in the conference and the conference champions qualified directly for the Conference Finals with West and Baylor both averaging over 30 points against the Pistons La won the Western Finals in six games the NBA finals were against the Boston Celtics a team that would Mark the entire decade and become Jerry's worst nightmare the series was exceptionally close with most games decided in the final seconds after after Baylor's NBA Finals record 61 Point performance taking the series lead in game five the Lakers dropped the next game and would all come down to Game 7 in the last seconds of the deciding game with the game tied at 100 Lakers guard Frank selvey had the shot for the win and the championship but he missed it Shelby again a big moment he does not make it Russell will rebound and this ball game goes into overtime and the game went to overtime where the Celtics had a little bit more Luck winning 110 107 West averaged 31 points in the finals and Baylor averaged 40 but it wasn't good enough despite the loss the Lakers came back even stronger the next year West averaged 28 points seven rebounds and 5.6 assists and again made all NBA first team La defeated the Hawks to reach another NBA Finals but just like the year before they got beat by the Celtics this time in six games no one was affected more by those defeats than West he took the loss harder than any player I've ever known he would sit by himself and stare into space a loss just ripped his guts out chick Hearn West held himself to seemingly impossible standards I'm surprised when the ball doesn't go into the hoop I think I should make every shot but the losses only made him work harder in 1964 he led the Lakers in scoring averaging his usual 28 6-6 finishing in the top five in shooting efficiency in the league dominated by big men West was one of the few players who were efficient at shooting from long distances the NBA didn't Institute the three-point line until 1979 but Jerry was the only guy in the NBA who could consistently make jumpers from 20 feet or more however despite West's and Baylor's Brilliance the Lakers had a mediocre season and they lost in the first round of the playoffs angrier and hungrier than ever Jerry came into the next season with guns blazing with 31 points per game he was the second best scorer in the NBA behind the almighty Wilt chamber he was also second in the league in true shooting percentage the Lakers were the heavy favorites in the western finals against the bullets but their title dreams drop dead after only five minutes of the playoffs Elgin Baylor suffered a career-threatening knee injury and was ruled out for the season and nobody expected Lakers to win another game but Jerry had different ideas he carried the team on his shoulders scoring over 40 points in each game of the series including 52 in game two the Lakers escaped for the victory in six games and Jerry averaged 46.3 points in the series and that's even more impressive if you remember that he averaged 46 without a three-point line La made the finals again against the Celtics and Jerry was spectacular he averaged 34 in the series but without Baylor he couldn't do much against six future Hall of Famers Austin won the finals in five games and gave Jerry his third Championship loss for the 1966 season Baylor returned from injury but he was visibly struggling averaging just 16 points per game instead of his usual 30 but thankfully he had Jerry to carry the offensive load West averaged a career-high 31.2 three points and 58 percent true shooting which led the NBA in the Western Finals Jerry led the Lakers past the Hawks with 35-6 and six shooting a phenomenal 53 percent from the field in the finals the Celtics were waiting for another duel it seemed like Boston would cruise to another easy Victory after they took a 3-1 lead in the series the Lakers didn't want to quit Baylor's 41 points propelled LA to a victory in game five and Jerry's 32 points helped him win game six in the deciding game seven Boston held a 16-point lead coming into the fourth quarter Jerry West was like a pit bull who wouldn't let go he and the Lakers closed the Gap and got the chance to win the game but they fell short again losing 95-93 despite 36 points from West when he got home Jerry was so angry that he didn't speak to his wife for weeks aimlessly driving around every night to numb his pain in 1967 the Lakers dropped off and after a late season injury to West LA got swept in the first round of playoffs in 1968 Jerry recovered and the Lakers never looked better under a new coach and with some filling pieces alongside him and Baylor La defeated the Bulls 4-1 in the first round and then swept the Warriors in a series where West shot an unbelievable 63 percent from the field in the finals you guessed it they played against Boston after game four the series was tied at two apiece but in that game Jerry injured his ankle he wasn't playing at full strength in games 5 or 6 and the Celtics stuck it to the Lakers once again with six guys averaging over 14 points in the series the Celtics had too many weapons and nobody on the Lakers could rebound the ball against Bill Russell Jerry averaged 31 points per game but it still wasn't enough he was getting desperate one off-season addition finally put a smile on Jerry's face League MVP Wilt Chamberlain got traded to the Lakers and LA looked destined to finally go all the way despite Chamberlain's poor relationship with coach Van bredikov who merely got decapitated by Wilt during one practice the Lakers won a franchise record 55 games Jerry led the team in scoring and was the Lakers best player in the first two rounds of the playoffs La made the finals with relative ease where for the first time the Aging Celtics were the underdog Jerry opened the finals with 53 points in game one after five games the Lakers had a 3-2 lead but the Celtics forced another game seven the home team won every game of the series and the whole world expected the Lakers to win the championship in front of their fans and before game 7 the Lakers owner had put up thousands of balloons in the rafters of the Los Angeles Forum but when the Celtics saw this it gave them extra motivation and Jerry was pissed by the Lakers arrogance thanks to Russell's defense and His Brilliant Outlet passes Austin killed the Lakers in transition and La was down by 15 after three quarters things looked Bleak for LA and when Wilt Chamberlain went down with a knee injury another Boston title seemed like a formality however Jerry West was never going to go down without a fight and he went berserk in the fourth the Lakers closed the Gap to 103 102. the Lakers coach then refused to put Wilt back in the game due to their personal beef and he wanted to prove that he could win the title without Chamberlain but despite West's triple double of 42 points 13 rebounds and 12 assists Boston survived and won the game by two points time was run out in the Boston Celtics have done it again those balloons were never released this was the first year the NBA handed out the finals MVP trophy and Jerry won it he is still the only recipient of the finals MVP award from the losing team in the series he averaged 38 points and seven and a half assists per game scoring or assisting on more than 50 percent of the Lakers points Bill Russell praised Jerry saying Los Angeles has not won the championship but Jerry West is a champion after the 69 finals Bill Russell retired hanging up his Chuck Taylors with more rings than fingers six of Russell's 11 championships came at the expense of cherry West with each loss Jerry was falling deeper into depression before the start of the 1970 season the NBA designed its new logo and they put Jerry's silhouette on it giving him another nickname the logo unfortunately for La their season couldn't start worse with serious injuries to both Chamberlain and Baylor who played 66 games combined but Jerry was so good that he still led the Lakers to the number two seed in the conference Jerry's the guy we end up giving the ball to and the whole thing falls on his shoulders and he ends up having the carriers West led the NBA in scoring with 31.2 points per game on top of making the first team all defense in the playoffs La won their first playoff series in seven games and then Jerry thrashed the number one seeded Hawks to make it to another NBA finals for the first time not against the Celtics without Bill Russell the New York Knicks had the best record in the NBA and the league MVP Willis Reed LA and New York split the first two games and in game three debusher hit a mid-range jump shot with three seconds left to put the Knicks ahead 102-100 and the Lakers had no timeouts left they only had time for a Hail Mary shot and they gave the ball to West who raced past Walt Frazier and threw up a 60-foot shot which miraculously found the target foreign ER later said that Jerry was crazy and that he could see the conviction in Jerry's eyes that he was going to make that shot but the three-point line had not been introduced yet so his 60-footer only just tied the game in overtime West sprained his left hand in the Knicks won 111 to 108. in game six Jerry injured his right hand as well and before game seven he had to get injections in both hands to be able to play Still the Lakers were the favorites because the Knicks were without an injured Willis Reed but then Reed famously returned to the lineup to Galvanize the Knicks inspiring his team to win the game and produce one of the most famous playoff upsets of all time in the 1971 NBA season Elgin Baylor ruptured his Achilles West injured his knee before the playoffs and the short-handed Lakers lost in the Western Finals before the 1972 NBA season West was fed up with all the losses and considered retirement but when a future Hall of Fame coach Bill Sharman joined the team West decided to continue we have had about four nightly workouts so far and I'm kind of sore right now the Lakers had a season for the ages despite Elgin Baylor retiring due to his Achilles injury La would go on to an unprecedented 33-game win streak which is still an NBA record they would finish the season with a then record 69 wins and West shined with 26 points and a league leading 9.7 assists per game Jerry is one of just five players in NBA history who led the NBA in both scoring and assists in the postseason the Lakers defeated the Bulls and the Bucks and in the finals they again faced the Knicks although West suffered a terrible shooting slump throughout the series thanks to phenomenal play by Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich the Lakers finally won the NBA Championship I played terrible basketball in the finals and we won it was particularly frustrating to win it this way because I was playing so poorly I believe that winning would feel so much better when I finally won the title I asked myself is that really all there is to it in 1973 the Lakers won 60 games and reached another finals against the Knicks during the series west strained both of his hamstrings and the short-handed Lakers were no match for New York who won the championship in five games West entered the 1974 NBA season as a 36 year old vet but he still averaged 20 points for rebounds and 6.5 assists per game but with the Aging Jerry and without Chamberlain who had ended his NBA career the Lakers lost in the first round of the playoffs West still wanted to keep going but had contract disagreements with the Lakers management and because he didn't want to play for any other franchise he was forced to retire West left the game as the NBA's third leading scorer and his average of 27 points per game stands as the fourth highest among retired players if he had played in the three-point era he'd probably average over 30 points per game and have a few more championships Jerry made the finals nine times in 14 Seasons the Lakers lost eight of the four of which came down to Game 7 in 1962 1966 and 1969 Jerry and the Lakers lost three game sevens to the Celtics by a combined Seven Points West said that he'd become so depressed after losses that he wanted to commit suicide on many occasions how much of a perfectionist he was is best illustrated by a game in which he hit 16 of 17 shots from the field all 12 free throw attempts plus 12 rebounds 12 assists and 10 block shots after the game he said he didn't feel he played very well and that he'd spend all night thinking about the one layup he missed [Music]

Channel: Nonstop

Views: 1,611,958

Keywords: NBA, Jerry West

Id: PhLlGi28jSQ

Length: 17min 14sec (1034 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 24 2023