By Henry L. Liao
Not once, not twice but thrice.
For legendary Los Angeles Lakers great Jerry West, whose silhouette appears on the National Basketball Association (NBA) logo, it’s back to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for an unprecedented third time in mid-August this year – this time in the Contributors category as an executive and consultant
West, who as a prolific, cool-and-calm 6-3 combo guard in the sixties and early seventies earned him the sobriquet “Mr. Clutch” for his ability to drill in jumpers during crunch-time or pressure situations in a game, is being honored again by the Hall for his accomplishments as a team executive. He was the architect of the Lakers’ dynastic rule in the 1980s and 2000s, bringing such stars as James Worthy, Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to LA-LA land.
During his distinguished 21-year tenure in the Lakers’ front office, West won six NBA titles (1980-82-85-87-88 and 2000). He was named NBA Executive of the Year on a pair of occasions – in 1995 with the Lakers and later in 2004 with the Memphis Grizzlies while serving as their general manager.
After leaving the Grizzlies, West hooked up with the Golden State Warriors as an Executive Board member with a minority ownership stake and romped away with two more championship rings (2015 and 2017) during his time with the Dubs.
West, who turns 86 on May 28, is currently an executive Board member and consultant with the Los Angeles Clippers, who are assured of an automatic top-five spot in the West – while in a dogfight with the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 4 berth that carries a first-round homecourt advantage in the NBA playoffs that unwrap a week from now with the play-in games (from Nos. 7 to No. 10) in both conferences.
West, who won an NBA ring with the Lakers in 1972 in tandem with the late Wilt Chamberlain, one-time Manila visitor (1974)Gail Goodrich and former PBA import John Quincy Trapp, was first inducted into the Hall in 1980 and then also collectively as a unit as the co-captain of the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the 1960 Rome Olympics that included the great Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas – both Hall members, in 2010.
West heads the 13-person Hall of Fame Class of 2024 that will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the sport’s birthplace, Springfield, Massachusetts, on August 17-18 Manila time.
The other inductees are Chauncey Billups, currently the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers who was the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player when the Detroit Pistons upset the favored Lakers during the 2004 NBA Finals; high-flying, slam-dunking Vince Carter, who is the only NBA player ever to play in four decades; off-the-bench defensive specialist Michael Cooper, who spent his entire 12-year NBA career with the Showtime Lakers and won five NBA titles with Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (also a Hall of Famer).
There are also former NBA Rookie of the Year Walter Davis, who remains the all-time leading scorer in Phoenix Suns history; Doug Collins, a four-time All-Star guard with the Philadelphia 76ers who was Michael Jordan’s first NBA coach with the Chicago Bulls after hanging up his jersey; Herb Simons, the owner of the Indiana Pacers since 1983 who is the longest-tenured Board Governor in NBA history; Bo Ryan, a former collegiate head coach; Charles Smith, the all-time winningest high school head coach in Louisiana history.
Further, legendary WNBA great Seimone Augustus, the top selection in the 2006 WNBA draft who earned four titles during her 15-year WNBA stint, notably with the Minnesota Lynx; Dick Barnett, a 6-4 shooting guard with an awkward jump shot who snared a pair of NBA titles with the New York Knicks, bannered by the late Willis Reed and Walt Frazier, in 1970 and 1973 (the Knicks never won again to date) while playing 14 seasons in the NBA; Harley Redin, who coached Wayland Baptist’s women’s basketball program through the 1960s.; and Michelle Timms, one of the best female point guards in Australian and Olympic history through the eighties and nineties who saw action with the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA for five seasons.
All told, eight of the 13 personages to be inducted into the Hall in August have NBA connections. Two own WNBA roots.
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