Live Bar, May 28-today is the 85th birthday of legendary star Jerry West. The official Twitter of the Lakers sent him birthday blessing and wrote: “Happy Birthday, ‘logo men’ Jerry West!”
Jerry West was born on May 28, 1938 in Sparrow orchid, West Virginia, USA. In the 1960 NBA draft, he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers as the second in the first round, west spent all his career in the Lakers. After the 1973-74 season, West officially announced his retirement. In 1979, West was elected to the NAI Smith Hall of Fame. In 1983, the Lakers retired West’s No. 44 jersey.
During his 14-year career as a player, West was elected to the NBA All-Star team 14 times in a row and was elected NBA All-Star MVP in 1972. He was selected as the best team for 12 times (10 times for a while and 2 times for a second time). He was selected as the best defensive team in NBA for 4 times in 1970-73. He won the NBA scoring king in 1970 and the NBA supporting King in 1972. In the 1968-69 season, West became the only player in NBA history who won the NBA Finals MVP(FMVP) as a loser. After that, he won the only NBA championship with the Lakers in 1972.
West played 932 games in NBA career, with 25192 points in total. The game averaged 27 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists, field goal percentage, 47.4%, and the free throw hit rate was 81.4%.
After retirement, West coached the Los Angeles Lakers from 1976 to 79, and successively served in the Lakers, Warriors and Clippers management. At present, he is a team consultant in the Clippers.
Happy birthday to basketball players