Jerry West

One of the most famous athletes to ever wear the Gold and Blue, Jerry West is considered among basketball's all-time greats

Whether shooting a 20-foot jump shot, making a big steal or pulling down a clutch rebound, Jerry West could do it all, first for West Virginia University and later the Los Angeles Lakers.

Owner of 17 WVU records, he led the Mountaineers to three of its greatest seasons on the hardwood. With a three-year mark of 61-12 while West was a regular, West Virginia earned three straight NCAA berths and came within two points of winning the national championship in 1959.

That 1959 team, which defeated Dartmouth, St. Joseph's, Boston University and Louisville to get to the finals, owns the school record of 29 wins in a single season.

A three-time scoring leader for the Mountaineers, West earned second-team All-America honors from the Helms Foundation and Converse for averaging 17.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game during his sophomore season.

The next two seasons, West earned consensus All-America honors, including a senior season in which he averaged 29.3 points and 16.5 rebounds per game.

For his collegiate accomplishments, he was selected to play on the Pan American and Olympic teams. Co-captain of the 1960 Olympic team along with Oscar Robertson, the duo led the USA to a 5-0 record and a victory over Russia to claim the gold medal at Rome.

West then entered the NBA in 1961 and spent 14 outstanding seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. During his NBA career, West compiled just about every honor possible. An all-NBA first team selection seven times, he also made the all-NBA defensive team four straight years from 1970-73.

He set the NBA single game scoring record for guards on January 17, 1962, scoring 63 points against New York. Also an NBA recordholder for the most free throws made in a single season in 1965-66 with 840, West led the league in scoring four years later in 1970 averaging 31.2 points per game.

In the seventh game of the 1969 NBA Finals, West played with a leg injury and had 42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists -- and his Los Angeles Lakers lost. Nine times in his 14 seasons West's Lakers made the NBA finals. The Lakers lost eight of them.

While he finally got his only NBA title in 1972, he is considered one of the greatest postseason players in the sport. His 29.1 career postseason scoring average ranks second to Michael Jordan's 33.4.

West made one of the most memorable shots in NBA history in 1970 -- a game tying 60-footer at the buzzer against the New York Knicks. Unfortunately the Lakers also lost that game in overtime.

He was selected to play in the NBA all-star game 14 times, winning MVP honors in 1972. Winning playoff MVP honors in 1969, West at one time held the record with 3,708 playoff points.

The fifth player in NBA history to surpass the 6,000 assist mark, when his professional career ended after the 1974 season, West had finished among the NBA elite in scoring, minutes, field goals and field goal percentage.

Now the successful general manager and president of the Lakers, which he has led to five NBA titles in the 1980s, the Cheylan native, was elected to the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979.