Jerry West,President of Baketball Operations of the Memphis Grizzles, laker legend will retire at the end of this NBA Season. Mr. West is calling it quits after a long and very impressive career.

Jerry West

Enshrined: As a player on April 28, 1980
Born: May 28, 1938 in Chelyan, WV
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 180 pounds

High School:
• East Bank (WV) High School (1952-56)

High School Playing Highlights:
• All-State (1953-56)
• All-American (1956)
• West Virginia Player of the Year (1956)
• Became first high school player in West Virginia to score
more than 900 points in a season (32.2 ppg, 1956)
• Led East Bank to state championship (1956)

College:
• West Virginia (Morgantown, WV) (1956-60)

College Playing Highlights:

• All-Southern Conference (1958-60)
• The Sporting News All-America First Team (1959-60)
• All-American Second Team (1958)
• Team MVP (1959-60)
• Team high scorer (1958-60)
• Team captain (1960)
• Averaged 24.8 points and 13.3 rebounds per game
• Led West Virginia to NCAA Finals (1959)
• Earned NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player Award
(1959)
• Led West Virginia to second best scoring average for two
years and third best another year
• Member, Pan American gold medal-winning team (1959)
• Co-captain, Olympic gold medal-winning team (1960)

Pro:
• NBA Los Angeles Lakers (1960-74)

Pro Playing Highlights:
• Selected by Minneapolis Lakers in first round (second overall
pick) of 1960 NBA draft
• All-NBA First Team 10 times (1962-67, 1970-73)
• All-NBA Second Team twice (1968-69)
• NBA All-Defensive First Team four times (1970-73)
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1969)
• Fourteen-time NBA All-Star (1961-74)
• NBA All-Star MVP (1972)
• NBA Finals MVP (1969)
• NBA Championship (1972)
• Member of 1972 Lakers that compiled a 69-13 record and
33-game
winning streak
• Led NBA in scoring in 1969-70 with 31.2 average
• Led the NBA in assists in 1971-72 with 747 total assists for a
9.7 average
• Holds single-season record for most free throws made-840
(1966)
• Holds single-series playoff record for highest points-per-game
average- 46.3 against Baltimore (1965)
• Holds record for highest point average in playoffs for one
season-40.6 in 11 games (1965)
• Los Angeles Lakers' all-time leading scorer with 25,192
points for a 27.0 average in 932 games
• Retired as the NBA's leading playoff scorer with 4,457 points
and a 29.1 average in 153 games
• Averaged 40.6 points per game during 1965 playoffs
• Compiled 970 assists during his career
• Scored 20-plus points in 25 consecutive appearances in the
NBA Finals.
• Retired as third leading scorer in NBA history with 25,192
points
• Retired with fourth highest scoring average (27.0 ppg) in

NBA history
• In 14 years with Lakers, led the team in scoring seven
times, averaging 30-plus points on four occasions, including
31.3 in 1956-66
• Retired as Lakers all-time leader in scoring, assists, field goals
made, free throws made and minutes played
• Sank 60-foot shot as time expired to send game 3 of 1970

NBA Finals
vs. Knicks into overtime
• NBA Championship (1972)
• NBA 35th Anniversary Team (1980)
• NBA 50th Anniversary Team (1996)
• Known as "Mr. Clutch"
• His image is silhouetted in the NBA logo

Pro Coaching:
• NBA Los Angeles Lakers (1976-79)
• Compiled an NBA best 53-29 record during the 1976-77
season.
• Compiled a 145-101 (.589) record during his three seasons
as coach

Other Career Highlights:
• Consultant, Los Angeles Lakers (1979-80 through 1981-82)
• General Manager, Lakers (1982-83 through 1993-94)
• Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations, Lakers,
(1994-95 to 2000)
• NBA Executive of the Year (1994-95)
• Guided the Lakers from a managerial/consultant position to
NBA championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988,
2000, 2001 and 2002
• President of Basketball Operations, Memphis Grizzlies
(2002 — present; announced on April 30, 2002)

Bio:
In the National Basketball Association's splendid history, you'd be hard pressed to find a better pure shooter than Jerry Alan West. When the game was on the line, West's Los Angeles Laker teammates always found a way to get the ball to "Mr. Clutch." His cool, calm, collected personality and leadership ability on the court was a coach's dream. In storybook fashion, Jerry West was on the fast track to stardom from the day he touched a basketball. As a schoolboy phenom at East Bank High School, West led his team to a state championship in his senior year, and in the process, became the first West Virginia scholastic player to score more than 900 points in one season. Such scoring prowess caught the attention of more than 60 college recruiters, but West remained home and became an even greater state folk hero at West Virginia University. West starred on a 17-0 freshman team at WVU, then started as a sophomore (17.8 ppg), junior (26.6 ppg) and a senior (29.3 ppg). In 1959, his junior year, West led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Finals and captured the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. In a superlative senior season, West was a consensus All-America and led West Virginia to its third consecutive conference championship.

Before embarking on a glorious 14-year professional career with the Los Angeles Lakers, West played for the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome. In Los Angeles, West played virtually his entire career with Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, and five years with Wilt Chamberlain. When he retired, West's name was found on nearly every page of the record books. He scored 25,192 points (third), averaged 27.0 ppg (fourth), made 7,160 free throws (second) and dished out 6,238 assists (fifth). He averaged over 20 points a season every year but his first and averaged over 30 points four times (1962, 1965, 1966, 1970). West was equally adept on the defensive end, named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times.

During his career, West was All-NBA First Team 10 times. He was selected to 14 All-Star teams (1972 MVP), and in 1980, was named to the NBA's 35th Anniversary All-Time Team. He also was the NBA Finals MVP in 1969. What fans will remember most about Jerry West is his uncanny ability to perform under pressure. He averaged 29.1 ppg in 153 playoff games-40.6 ppg in 11 playoff games in 1965-and canned a remarkable 60-foot shot with no time remaining to send a 1970 Laker-Knick championship game into overtime. West's only NBA championship was won in 1972, the year Bill Sharman coached Los Angeles to a record 33-straight regular season wins. Due to recurring injuries, West retired following the 1973-74 season and coached the Lakers into the playoffs in his three seasons (1976-1979). West was the architect of the lakers Showtime era. He finally parted ways with the lakers in 2001. He became President of the Grizzles in 2002 where he was able to turn the Grizzles into a legitimate basketball organization. West will always consider himself a laker as will laker fans across the globe. We miss and love you and thank you for the memories.