Jerry West

Jerry West

14× NBA All-Star | Los Angeles Lakers Legend | Former NBA Executive & General Manager

Jerry West was born on May 28, 1938, in Chelyan, West Virginia, U.S. He played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers men’s basketball, where his number 44 was retired, he led them to the 1959 NCAA championship game and earned the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor.

He played all 14 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, was a 14× NBA All-Star, won the 1972 NBA championship, and is the only player in NBA History to win the NBA Finals MVP on the losing team in 1969, and earned the retirement of his number 44 in the Staples Center/Crypto Center rafters. He was named to the 35th, 50th, and 75th NBA anniversary teams for his iconic playing career.

After coaching, West spent the rest of his career and life serving as an executive in several NBA front offices with the Los Angeles Lakers serving as the General Manager and scout until 2000, the Memphis Grizzlies as their General Manager from 2002 to 2007, an Executive Board Member for the Golden State Warriors organization from 2011-2017, and as an Executive Board Member and Consultant for the Los Angeles Clippers, where he served until his death in 2024.

With all his executive roles, he won 8 NBA championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2015, and 2017 and was named NBA Executive of the Year in 1995 and 2004.

Coach West passed away on June 12, 2024, at the age of 86.

  • Overall Coaching Record: 145-101

Coaching Career

Jerry West became the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, succeeding Bill Sharman. In his first season, the Lakers finished with a 53–29 record, reaching the conference finals, but were eliminated by Jack Ramsay and the Portland Trail Blazers, in 4 games (4-0). The Blazers would become the 1977 NBA champions.

The following season, the Lakers finished with a 45–37 record and were defeated in the first round by Lenny Wilkens and the Seattle SuperSonics in 3 games (2-1). In 1979, the Lakers finished with a 47–35 record, facing off against the SuperSonics in the semifinals but were eliminated in 5 games (4-1).

His assistant coaches were Stan Albeck and Jack McCloskey.

He was succeeded by Jack McKinney and later Paul Westhead, winning the 1980 NBA championship. In 1981, the Lakers originally had named West and Pat Riley as “Co-Coaches”, but West expressed that Riley would be the primary coach and West would assist Riley while in his front office capacity, though not an assistant, West was on the bench for that season. Riley later won 4 championships as the Head Coach of the Lakers with West in the front office.

Notable Players Coached

  • Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar
    • 6× NBA champion (1971, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
    • 2× NBA Finals MVP (1971, 1985)
    • 6× NBA Most Valuable Player (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980)
    • 19× NBA All-Star (1970–1977, 1979–1989)
    • 10× All-NBA First Team (1971–1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1986)
    • 5× All-NBA Second Team (1970, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985)
    • 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1974, 1975, 1979–1981)
    • 6× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1970, 1971, 1976–1978, 1984)
    • 1970 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 1970 NBA All-Rookie First Team
    • 2× NBA scoring champion (1971, 1972)
    • 1976 NBA rebounding leader
    • 4× NBA blocks leader (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980)
    • 35th, 50th, & 75th NBA anniversary team selections
    • No. 33 retired by Milwaukee Bucks
    • No. 33 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
  • Jamaal Wilkes
    • 4× NBA champion (1975, 1980, 1982, 1985)
    • 3× NBA All-Star (1976, 1981, 1983)
    • 2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1976, 1977)
    • 1975 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 1975 NBA All-Rookie First Team
    • No. 52 retired by Los Angeles Lakers
  • Michael Cooper
    • Future 5× NBA champion (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988)
    • Future 1987 NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1987)
    • Future 5× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988)
    • Future 3× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1981, 1983, 1986)
  • Ron Boone
    • 1971 ABA champion
    • 4× ABA All-Star (1971, 1974–1976)
    • ABA All-Rookie First Team (1969)
    • 1974 All-ABA First Team
    • 1975 All-ABA Second Team
    • ABA All-Time Team
  • Jim Price
    • 1975 NBA All-Star
    • 1974 NBA All-Defensive Second Team
    • 1973 NBA All-Rookie First Team
  • Don Chaney
    • 2× NBA champion (1969, 1974)
    • 5× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1972–1975, 1977)
    • Future 1991 NBA Coach of the Year
  • Cazzie Russell
    • NBA champion (1970)
    • NBA All-Star (1972)
    • NBA All-Rookie First Team (1967)
  • Norm Nixon
    • 2× NBA champion (1980, 1982)
    • 2× NBA All-Star (1982, 1985)
    • 1978 NBA All-Rookie First Team
  • Kermit Washington
    • 1980 NBA All-Star
    • 2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1980, 1981)
  • Adrian Dantley
    • 6× NBA All-Star (1980–1982, 1984–1986)
    • 2× All-NBA Second Team (1981, 1984)
    • 1984 NBA Comeback Player of the Year (1984)
    • 1977 NBA Rookie of the Year
    • 1977 NBA All-Rookie Team
    • 2× NBA scoring champion (1981, 1984)
    • No. 4 retired by Utah Jazz
  • Lou Hudson
    • 6× NBA All-Star (1969–1974)
    • 1970 All-NBA Second Team
    • 1967 NBA All-Rookie First Team
    • No. 23 retired by Atlanta Hawks