Jerry A. West

Enshrined 1980
Born: May 28, 1938
Chelyan, WV

Jerry West was on the fast track to stardom from the day he touched a basketball. Throughout the NBA's history, it would be hard to find a better pure shooter. At West Virginia University, West led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Finals and captured the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award in 1959. In a superlative senior season, West was a consensus All-America and led West Virginia to its third consecutive conference championship. In Los Angeles, West played virtually his entire career with Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, and five years with Wilt Chamberlain. 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, and collected personality and his leadership on the court was a coach's dream. When he retired, West's name was 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), dished out 6,238 assists (fifth). West was equally adept on the defensive end, named to the NBA All-Defensive First-Team four times.