Lakers Legend Jerry West, Inspiration For NBA Logo, Dies At 86

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles Lakers legend and NBA icon Jerry West, whose silhouette is the inspiration for the NBA logo, died Wednesday, the Los Angeles Clippers organization announced. He was 86.

West's legendary career spanned decades as a player, coach, executive, and spokesman for the game. He played his entire 14-year career with the Lakers, earning 14 All Star nods and helping his squad an NBA Finals championship in 1972.

Known alternately as "The Logo" or "Mr. Clutch," West has the rare distinction of being the only player named NBA Finals MVP (1969) in a series his team did not win.

West was the second overall pick in the NBA draft in 1960, and months later was the co-captain of the U.S. men's gold medal winning Olympic team in Rome. His ensuing career saw him place runner-up in the MVP race four times, earning the scoring title in 1970 and the assists title in 1972. He led his Lakers to 13 playoff appearances in those 14 years, including a stunning nine appearances in the NBA Finals. LA was infamously snakebitten in the 60s, and lost the title during West's career all but once.

West is the 25th highest scorer in NBA history, amassing 25,192 points in his career. He was just the third player ever to eclipse the 25,000 point mark and was inducted into basketball's Naismith Hall of Fame.

After his playing career, West coached the Lakers from 1976 to 1979 before becoming a general manager. Over the next two decades, West helped put together some of the greatest teams of all time, including Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar squads that won five titles in the 1980s. He was also the general manager that drafted Kobe Bryant and traded for Shaquille O'Neal, a coupling that resulted in another Lakers dynasty in the 2000s even after West had moved on.

The Clippers, where West had been serving as an executive board member and consultant since 2017, described West as "the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him."

West died "peacefully" with his wife Karen at his side.