He was the first prominent player in Los Angeles basketball history to be inducted into the Hall of Fаme, and his accomplishment in basketball management elevated him to the status of general manager benchmark.

Jerry West was known as Mr. Clutch, an honourable term that emphasised his legend on the court and in the front office.

As a result, the NBA has lost a key contributor who helped shape the league. West ԀιеԀ on Wednesday, aged 86.

“I valued my friendship with Jerry and the knowledge he shared with me over many years about basketball and life.” NBA commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement. “On behalf of the NBA, we send our deepest condolences to Jerry’s wife, Karen, his family and his many friends in the NBA community.”

His NBA career has been largely uninterrupted since 1960, when he was drafted second overall by the Lakers just as the team relocated from Minneapolis. He later served as general manager of the Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, and consultant for the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers, one of the longest tenures in league history. West earned nine championship rings throughout the course of his career, thanks to his outstanding performances on the court and in the office.

He is already a Hall of Fаme player and member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team, and he will be inducted for the third time as a contributor later this year.

West was both blessed and cursed by a desire for excellence, therefore he worked hard and pushed himself and the teams he worked for to a high level. As a result, West never had a bad or mediocre season as a player, and the majority of the clubs he led as GM were in contention for conference or NBA championships.

He played for 14 years, was a 14-time All-Star, and was named to the NBA All-Star team 12 times. Throughout his career, he averaged 27 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 6.7 assists. At the time of his retirement in 1974, he led the franchise in scoring with 25,192 points. But that simply defined his оffensive performance.

West was also regarded as one of the game’s elite defensive guards. For example, the NBA did not recognise thefts until his final season (1973-74), when he averaged 2.6 per game. Similarly, the All-Defensive Teams were not named until 1968-69, five years before his retirement. During those five years, West was named to the first team four times and the second team once.

He had two defining moments, both of which occurred in losing scenarios. In 1969, he became the first and only player on the losing team to win MVP honours in the NBA Finals. His 60-foot half-court heave in the 1970 Finals, which the Knicks won, is widely regarded as one of the most iconic shots in NBA history.

In his autobiography, West by West, he wrote: “Those losses traumatised me, scars that are still etched in my psyche today. To truly grasp what I’m talking about, you’d have to be able to view the tissue beneath those scars, since I can’t sufficiently describe how it feels to anyone. The thing about scar tissue is that it keeps growing until it’s rather large.”

In a 2019 interview with NBA.com, West stated, “I really, really hated losing.” I disliked losing more than I liked winning. It was only something inside of me, the competitor, who believed that if my team did not win, I had failed. So I was motivated to do my best every time I stepped onto the court.”

West was born on May 28, 1938, in the little community of Chelyan, West Virginia. His father was harsh to him, and he never had a close relationship with his son. To escape a dysfunctional environment, West turned to basketball, frequently playing alone on an outdoor hoop in the snow and cold.

In high school in the 1950s, West developed the jump shot, which was still a novelty in the game at the time, and became one of the most recruited players in the country. He stayed local and enrolled at West Virginia University, where he swiftly rose to the top of his class.