Sports Poets Society

THE LAKERS’ Jerry West handles the ball against the Boston Celtics’ Emmette Bryant  in the opening game of the NBA Finals in Los Angeles on April 23, 1969.  West died Wednesday at 86.  (Harold P. Matosian - Associated Press) 13 Jun 2024 - Los Angeles Times By Dan Woike They called him “Mr. Clutch,” “Zeke from Cabin Creek,” “Tweety Bird” and eventually “The Logo.” Yet to the people who knew him, Jerry West was, at first, someone you’d call overwhelming and humbling. “Well, it was intimidating,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr told The Times . “It’s hard to make these lists, but, when you think about the very most important figures in NBA history, he’s on the short list.” Kerr, a broadcaster at the time, went to watch the Memphis Grizzles practice when West, the team’s general manager, spoke with him about everything — a man allergic to anything but unvarnished truth. “Jerry, as you know, was, uh, he was like perpetually [unfiltered]. He didn’t spare any thoughts on anybody,”...

IN 2008, Jerry West, left, no longer with the Lakers,  congratulates Kobe Bryant  and his teammates after they won the NBA’s Western Conference title.  West left the organization after the 2000 season. (Andrew D. Bernstein NBAE) West, Lakers never had a needed reconciliation Jun 2024 - Los Angeles Times BILL PLASCHKE The sadness was compounded by the strangeness. The announcement of the death of the greatest Laker was made by the Clippers. “Jerry West, the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him, passed away peacefully this morning at the age of 86,” read the Wednesday morning release from the Clippers’ communications department. The Clippers loved Jerry West, and were loved by him, and he was treated with the utmost dignity and respect during his seven years as their adviser. But he will forever be a Laker. He built the Lakers into a Southern California institution as a player. He constructed and nurtured the Lakers’ greatness as a gener...

LAKERS guard Jerry West in action in the 1972 playoffs,  a season in which the team won the NBA championship.  West died Wednesday at age 86. ( Walter Iooss Jr. - Sports Illustrated) Johnson shares memories of mentor who had ‘unmatched’ eye for talent 13 giu 2024 - Los Angeles Times By Broderick Turner When Magic Johnson heard the news that friend Jerry West had died early Wednesday morning, he began to reminisce about their first lunch together at the Forum in Inglewood after the Lakers had selected him No. 1 overall out of Michigan State in 1979.  Johnson recalled how his dad, Earvin Johnson Sr., was at the lunch and how his father idolized West and viewed him as his favorite player. Magic and his dad were excited about him joining a historic franchise like the Lakers, the two of them looking forward to what the future held for the Magic Man. “I soon realized that my dad was more interested in Jerry West than me being a Laker,” Johnson said, laughing as he told the stor...

LONGTIME NEMESIS  West goes for a layup against Bill Russell in an NBA Finals loss to Boston.  For all his achievements, West was tormented by where he fell short.  The Celtics played a big part in that. ( Bettmann Archive ) Jerry West took the team to stunning heights season after season as a player, coach and general manager and became ‘the logo’ 13 Jun 2024 - Los Angeles Times BY MIKE KUPPER (Kupper is a former Times sports writer) Jerry West, an early star of the team and league and architect of ‘Showtime’ era, dies at 86. Lakers legend Jerry West was a hard man to please.  As a player, he ranked — and still ranks — as one of the best ever to play in the NBA. That’s his silhouette you see on the NBA logo that adorns every uniform and every NBA-related piece of merchandise. As a coach, he never had a losing season and took his team to the playoffs in each of the three years he was in command. As a general manager, in establishing the Lakers as a dynasty, he built ...

NBA's logo dead at 86 after HOF career as player & exec 13 Jun 2024 - New York Post By DON BURKE - Dburke@nypost.com Jerry West, whose silhouette was fashioned into the NBA logo and who made tremendous contributions to the game of basketball as a player, a coach and as an executive with several teams, died Wednesday. He was 86. One of the most complete players to ever play the game, West made the All-Star team in each of his 14 seasons in the league, and while he only won one NBA championship — his Los Angeles Lakers beat the Knicks following the 1970-71 season — it wasn’t for lack of trying. West’s teams appeared in nine NBA Finals and were 1-8, dropping six Finals to the dynastic Boston Celtics and two out of three to the Knicks. “Those damn Celtics,” West often said. He was named the Finals MVP during one of those losses to the Celtics, the only player from a losing team ever to be so honored. West also made one of the most memorable shots in NBA history when he let one fly ...

Former NBA basketball player and general manager Jerry West smiles  before  being presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom in September 2019.  (Alex Brandon/Associated Press) https://www.pressherald.com/2024/06/12/jerry-west-3-time-hall-of-fame-selection-and-inspiration-for-nba-logo-dies-at-86/ Jerry West was a 14-time All-Star, a 12-time All-NBA selection, was part of the 1972 Lakers team that won a title, won an NBA Finals MVP and was part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. June 12, 2024 TIM REYNOLDS - Associated Press Jerry West, who was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame three times in a storied career as a player and executive, and whose silhouette is considered the basis of the NBA logo, died Wednesday at age 86. West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, was an NBA champion who went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010. He will be enshrined for a t...

Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers looks for room against Willis Reed, left,  and Walt Frazier of the New York Knicks during the first game of the NBA Finals in May 1973.  The legendary West died Wednesday at age 86.  (Jeff Robbins/Associated Press) Conflicted, driven and never tired, West was the eternal influencer On court, as GM, in the logo — an influence for the ages 13 Jun 2024 - The Washington Post Jerry Brewer DALLAS - I remember the first time I saw Jerry West, the Logo, Mr. Clutch, beholder of great talent, builder of dynasties. It was October 2002 during his first preseason as general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies. After a practice, he stood in front of a basket and chatted with a young Earl Watson about his shooting form. Watson, just 23 and trying to develop his game, had signed with Memphis because of West. And there they were, in a nondescript gym, representing a nondescript franchise, working through the subtleties of a jump shot. West grabbed a baske...

Jerry West, la légende des Lakers dont la silhouette a servi d’inspiration au logo de la NBA, est mort paisiblement dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi. Il avait 86 ans. 13 Jun 2024 - L'Équipe DE NOTRE CORRESPONDANT - LOÏC PIALAT “Je ne pouvais plus jouer pour les Lakers  et je n’allais jouer pour personne d’autre"    - JERRY WEST, EN 1974, À LA FIN DE SA CARRIÈRE LOS ANGELES – Peu de basketteurs ont autant gagné et perdu à la fois. Dans les années 1960 et au début des années 1970, Jerry West avait sa carte de fidélité pour les finales et, au bout, un abonnement à la même défaite cruelle, condamné à applaudir l’adversaire, «ces maudits Celtics» la plupart du temps. Une torture pour cet éternel insatisfait, meneur ou arrière avec une bonne détente, une excellente défense et un shoot dégainé très vite. «J’ai un trou dans le coeur, un trou qui ne se remplira jamais» , confessait-il dans son autobiographie (West by West : My Charmed and Tormented Life). Il y a eu un titre, quand...