Basketball is never about one man.
The NFL has a shield, which is probably the way it should be, ice-cold and bedecked in red, white and blue, white stars (and white football) set against a blue field at the top. The NFL is, always has been, about the brand. No ambiguity there. The same goes for the NHL. The logo is black and gray, “NHL” and two stripes. No fuss, no muss. Like hockey players.
For the longest time, it was assumed that the logo for Major League Baseball was based on Harmon Killebrew because, well, it sort of looks like Harmon Killebrew, but that was debunked by the very man who created it, Jerry Dior, who repeatedly explained it was designed to be strictly ambiguous; you can’t tell if it’s a right-handed or a left-handed hitter, and there’s no hint of ethnicity. It could be anyone.
There was never any such uncertainty applied to the NBA logo, however.
Lakers legend and Basketball Hall of Fame member Jerry West holds the Larry O’Brien championship trophy.AP
“There’s no need to make this harder than it is,” Alan Siegel told me in 1998. “It’s Jerry West.”
Siegel had played high school basketball at Long Beach High with Larry Brown and he’d gone to college at Cornell with Dick Schaap. It was during Schaap’s tenure as editor of Sport magazine that Siegel had been approached by NBA commissioner Walter Kennedy and commissioned to update the league’s logo. Siegel sifted through an array of pictures, saw one of West that struck him perfectly.
“We all liked the verticality,” Siegel told NBA.com in 2021. “I didn’t want to do something with people dunking. I always admired the guards and players who were so multitalented and versatile.”
And thus, Jerry West became The Logo.
And in so many ways, there couldn’t possibly have been a better choice for that honor than West, who died peacefully Wednesday at 86 after a full basketball life that included a Final Four at West Virginia, a gold medal playing for Team USA, an NBA championship playing with the Lakers, and building the foundation for 10 more Lakers champions as the team’s GM from 1977-2000.
A statue of Jerry West outside of Crypto.com Arena.AP
“Jerry West was the perfect basketball player,” Walt Frazier said in May 2020, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Knicks/Lakers NBA Finals. “He had a textbook jump shot. He was fearless. He could play amazing defense, which I’m not sure a lot of people know. And of course he was clutch. We found that out the hard way.”
“Swish,” Clyde recalled. “It wasn’t even a crazy bounce or a heave off the backboard. It was like he’d just made a free throw. It was incredible.”
Jerry West of the Lakers dribbles down the court during a game
against the Knicks.Focus on Sport via Getty Images
It was also something of a Cliffs Notes version of West’s playing career. So often his brilliance wasn’t enough to overcome hard luck and harder fate.
The Lakers lost that game in OT, and lost the series in seven. A year earlier he’d been named MVP of the Finals despite the Lakers losing in seven to the Celtics, the only time a losing player has ever received that honor. In six NBA Finals against the Celtics, West’s Lakers went 0-6. In 1959, he’d scored 28 points and added 11 rebounds but his West Virginia Mountaineers lost the NCAA championship game to Cal, 71-70; once again he won Most Outstanding Player despite playing for the runner-up.
The New York Post back page for Thursday, June 13, 2024.
West’s two notable exceptions to that hard-luck habit were memorable ones, though. In 1960, he played on what is generally considered the greatest-ever amateur basketball team, teaming with Oscar Robertson to steamroll eight opponents by an average of 42 points to win gold in Rome. And in 1971-72, he teamed with Wilt Chamberlain as the Lakers won 33 games in a row (a record that still stands) on the way to 69 wins and a title.
As a GM he was at least partly responsible for putting together all five Showtime Lakers champs in the ’80s, then managed to outbluff the Nets’ John Calipari and wiggle his way into picking Kobe Bryant in the 1996 draft, soon after signing Shaquille O’Neal away from the Magic. That set the stage for five more Lakers titles.
It was a full and quite spectacular basketball life for The Logo, even if the NBA has never officially admitted that’s West, and even though West himself was to the end uncomfortable with the connection.
“It’s flattering,” he said in 2013. “But I think there were so many players who came before me who merited that kind of honor, and many who came after. Basketball is never about one man.”
News
“Mom’s Been Dying for Me To Sing This”: Emmy Russell continues to bring the audience to tears*
“Mom’s Been Dying for Me To Sing This”: Watch Loretta Lynn’s Granddaughter Wow With a Breathtaking Cover Although growing up with Loretta Lynn as her grandmother, Emmy Russell wanted to explore other careers in life other than music. Even with Lynn praising…
*Angel Reese makes history with a positive record only matched three times in NBA and WNBA in over 50 years
Reese leads the league in both total (374) and per game (12.9) rebounds Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) is seen during a WNBA basketball game We’re witnessing a historic season in the WNBA, starting from the draft, which became the most-watched in league history, attracting 2.4…
*Caitlin Clark’s trophy wardrobe has one more addition – A nomination she’s been looking forward to for weeks
Caitlin Clark adds a new accolade to her growing WNBA honors-A nomination she’s been expecting for weeks Caitlin Clark named WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Caitlin Clark became the second Fever to be named Player of the Week…
*Simone Biles Reveals How Healing Turned Her Into Gymnastics’ GOAT
Victim of Childhood Trauma, Simone Biles Reveals How Houston’s Healing Paved Way for G.O.A.T. Tour Houston turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Simone Biles. While she makes Olympic gymnastics look like a walk in the park, her early…
*Ben Affleck’s representative quickly spoke up about the shocking news that his client was in love with Kick Kennedy.
Ben Affleck responds to Kick Kennedy romance rumors Affleck was rumored to be dating Robert F Kennedy Jr’s daughter, 36, after splitting from Jennifer Lopez As rumors of a budding romance between Ben Affleck and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy began to…
Fans ‘Can’t Recognize’ Gwen Stefani in New ‘Voice’ Trailer
Good Genes Or Good Docs? Fans React To Gwen Stefani’s ‘Unrecognizable’ Appearance In New ‘Voice’ Trailer: ‘She Aged Backwards’ A new promotional clip for the upcoming 26th season of The Voice was just shared on Instagram, featuring upcoming coaches Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg discussing their exciting…
End of content
No more pages to load