NBA All-Time Rank No. 14: Jerry West

Ranking the top 50 players in NBA history…

14. Jerry West

“The Logo” had a storied 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1960 to 1974.

Drafted No. 2 overall out of West Virginia University, where he was a college star, West averaged 27.0 points, 6.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game in his career.

A 14-time All-Star, he earned 12 All-NBA selections (10 First Team) and five All-Defensive honors.

Despite nine Finals appearances, West won only one championship in 1972, but he remains the only player to win Finals MVP on a losing team (1969).

Known for his clutch shooting, including a famous 60-foot buzzer-beater in the 1970 Finals, West led the league in scoring (31.2 PPG in 1970) and assists (9.7 in 1972).

He scored 25,192 career points, retiring as the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer at the time.

West’s intensity and fundamentals made him a prototype shooting guard for the time period, but he would have been a star in any era, including the present.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and as a contributor in 2010, his post-playing career was equally legendary: as Lakers GM, he built Showtime and Shaq-Kobe dynasties, winning eight rings. Later, he helped construct the Golden State Warriors’ championship teams.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.

But who ranks ahead of West at No. 13 all-time?