"I met people from all over the world," said Robertson, who was inducted to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2009. Additionally, as President of the Players Association, he was involved in the landmark Robertson vs. National Basketball Association antitrust suit that led to reforms for the college draft and free agency rules, and also finally allowed the completion of the ABA-NBA merger to take place in 1976 (the suit was filed in 1970). He is a. man for the ages." Jerry West. That was our goal.". The Celtics' Sam Jones inbounded the ball at half-court with three seconds left. Its only fitting he returned the favor. Charleston, WV (25301) Today. [11] West soon became the captain of the freshman team, and during the summer of 1953 he grew to 6ft 0in (1.83m). Chamberlain inbounded the ball to West, who raced past Walt Frazier and threw up a 60-foot shot. [26] In overtime, Jones scored several clutch baskets to ensure a 110107 win for the Celtics. At the tail ends of their careers. Also Read Dwyane Wade is the most accomplished athlete thats come out of Chicago! Combine a deadly jump shot, tenacious defense, obsessive perfectionism, unabashed confidence, and an uncompromising will to win, and youve got Jerry West, one of the greatest guards in NBA history. Baylor's tip-in attempt was thwarted by Sam Jones. [60], Those championship-winning Lakers were coached by Pat Riley, and featured superstar players Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. He made the varsity squad at East Bank High School, although he mostly sat on the bench during his junior year. Unrealistic or not, West the perfectionist propelled the Lakers to The Finals repeatedly in the 1960s and early 1970s. His only outlet was a basketball hoop nailed to a storage shed outside a neighbors house. Over time, Robertson became more of a complementary player to Abdul-Jabbar, though was still effective in his own right, and made his last All-Star Game in 1971-1972 before retiring after the 1973-1974 season at age 35. But West, who had scored 38 points in a Game 4 win, had sprained his ankle and did not play at full strength the rest of the series. Isiah Thomas potentially snubs Michael Jordan as he labeles The Flash as the best Chicago athlete. Regular season: PTS, FG, FT, 3P complete all-time. It sounds like trash talk before its time, but West did not christen himself. Van Breda Kolff pejoratively called Chamberlain "The Load", and later complained that Chamberlain was egotistical, never respected him, too often slacked off in practice and focused too much on his statistics. To get the center, the Lakers traded West's backcourt partner Archie Clark, starting center Darrall Imhoff and backup forward Jerry Chambers to Philadelphia. "Why does everybody say the game has changed? Your inbox approves The power couples & . Unexpectedly, most of the coaches changed direction as suddenly as a team that just had the ball stolen at midcourt. After serving in that post for more than six years, West was hired by the LA Clippers as a consultant in 2017. NEW: Sample Searches for learning more about the power and flexibility of Stathead. Sometimes you get involved in situations like that, you don't realize the importance of it until you get out of it. After helping the Golden State Warriors win the championship against the Cleveland Cavaliers, on June 14, 2017, West announced that he would go to the Los Angeles Clippers as an executive board member and consultant. An abundance of admiration, actually. 1 select and West the . Jerry West. The same road is shared on the south end of Morgantown with Don Knotts Boulevard, in honor of another WVU alumnus. [23] Baylor once commented: "Rumors are safe with you, Tweety Bird. Clutch," passing up the shot himself because he is, after all, 71 years old. This worldview of modern basketball wouldnt have spread if it wasnt a generational thing. [43][45] After Chamberlain scored 45points and West 31points plus 13assists in a series-equalising 135-113 Lakers win, the Lakers seemed favorites prior to Game 7. "Fans believe what people tell them.". This display of arrogance motivated the Celtics and angered West. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically. [36] In Game 5, an injured West scored 35points, but Boston won by threepoints. should play. [43][45], In the 197071 NBA season, the Lakers reacquired Gail Goodrich, who came back from the Phoenix Suns after playing for L.A. until 1968. The USA had plenty of firepower at the Rome Games. I felt I was deceived. For his contributions, West won the NBA Executive of the Year Award twice, once as a Lakers manager (1995) and then as a Grizzlies manager (2004). [41] In Game 3, Russell opted to double-team West, and the guard's exhaustion began to show: West twice asked to be subbed for longer periods, and both times the Lakers fell back by double digits and finally lost by sixpoints. Unfortunately for West, individual success could not prevent. Once you get out of it, you figure, 'Boy, what a great bunch of guys'.". West became the first draft pick ever of the relocated franchise. [48] West himself contributed with 25.8points and led the league with a career-high 9.7assists per game. [15] "He stole more than anybody, although they didn't keep records on it then", said Sharman. It wasn't a 3-pointer, but Jerry West's 60-foot prayer was answered in Game 2 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Theres a reason the leagues logo is the Los Angeles Lakers legends silhouette. Having played in nine NBA Finals, he is also the only player in NBA history to be named Finals MVP despite being on the losing team (1969). Jerry West was an All-NBA performer in 12 of his seasons. Today, both are remembered as among the all-time greats, with Wests silhouette gracing the NBAs logo, but it is impossible not to compare the two players and ask: Who was better Oscar Robertson or Jerry West? 1970 class-action lawsuit that led to the creation of free agency, legendary game from Wilt Chamberlain en route to a title, another player (Russell Westbrook) to average a triple-double over the course of a full season. In Game 6, Havlicek shredded the Lakers with 40 points, and after yet another Finals loss to Boston, West commented that the Lakers lost two games they should have won: "We gave them the first game, and we gave them the fifth. Im surprised when the ball doesnt go into the hoop, West said toward the end of his career. He was responsible for perhaps the most famous buzzer-beater of all time: a 60-foot swish that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. West is still regarded as one of the best pure scorers in NBA history. Then as now, it is rings that really validate the best. [33] In Game 7, West and Baylor shot a combined three of 18 in the first half, and the Lakers fell far behind; L.A. willed themselves back to a close 9593 with four seconds left, but the Celtics ran the clock out and the Lakers were denied yet again. Oscar Robertson. This includes rookie cards for Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor and Len Wilkens (misspelled Wilkins). [85], Early in his career, West's West Virginian roots made him a target for some mild jeering. With West not yet in shape, Baylor and the Lakers fell back 32; then they succumbed in Game 6 in front of their home crowd with a 112109 loss. On May 20, 2011, West was hired by the Warriors as one of the teams executive members, where he assisted the team in basketball and non-basketball related decisions. "They have everything it takes to win a championship. His ferocity rarely, if ever, rubbed players, coaches or fans the wrong way. "I told coach Wooden, 'I'll play him for lunch every day, and he'll pay.' Oscar Robertson vs Andrew Wiggins. Robertsons career arc is fairly similar. West stole the ball, raced upcourt, and converted a running layup as the buzzer sounded. He thought of the broken noses, the broken hands, the pulled muscles and the lost championships. Across their respective decades of dominance, Robertson holds the edge in essentially every category, from health (games played) to counting statistics to shooting ratios to advanced metrics; this is of course no knock on West (whose best-decade numbers are still scintillating), but speaks to how truly dominant the Big O was at his peak. Following another five-game loss to Boston in 1963-1964, Cincinnati would never again make it past the first round with Robertson. Im not willing to sacrifice my standards, West told the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner when he retired. Rendimiento en Playoffs However, West averaged 22.8points, but also averaged 8.8assists per game, and again was a First Teamer in the All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defense Teams. Oscar Robertson, however, demurred about change in general in basketball. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird . Equally legendary was Wests tolerance for pain. When it snowed West played wearing gloves. The dirt-covered court became his domain. Under his reign, Los Angeles won six championship rings. [39] West was disturbed by locker room tension; used to playing on teams with good chemistry, his quality of play became erratic, and his scoring average of 25.9 points was his lowest since his rookie season. [50] After winning Game 4 due to a superb outing from Wilt Chamberlain, West scored 23 points and dished out 9 assists in Game 5, helping the Lakers to win the game and the NBA championship. [28] The Lakers struggled during the entire season, winning only 42 games, and were beaten by the Hawks in five games during the first round of the 1964 NBA Playoffs. Tackling the Biggest Head-to-Head Sports Debates. During has remaining 13 seasons, the Lakers missed the Finals only four times. Frazier later commented: "The man's crazy. [19] West and Oscar Robertson co-captained the U.S. men's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Inside" (the low-post scorer, Baylor) and "Mr. Outside" (the long-distance shooter, West). The Royals made Robertson with the No. Clutch" a handle which stuck with West for his entire career. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. But it is less a function of disrespect than of youth. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. In 1995, West received his first Executive of the Year Award for his role in turning the Lakers around.[61]. Your email address will not be published. Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. Jerry West's NBA Finals Record. [22], Initially, West felt odd in his new environment. But despite his remarkable legacy, West does not feel he was the best individual talent of his era. [8] He was the fifth of six children of Cecil Sue West, a housewife, and Howard Stewart West, a coal mine electrician. Fans' memories have dimmed of Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. black vs. white, East vs. West, etc. Before that, the Oscar Robertson Rule was established in 1976, and the ABA-NBA merger allowed the NBA to expand for the 1976-77 season. ". Oscar Robertson vs Coby White. "When we played, [the NBA] was a minor league acting like a pro league. The Americans arrived in Italy in 1960 with 28 wins in as many games at the Olympics. Its one that calls for a mutual appreciation, something that remains to this day. Oscar Palmer Robertson (Big O, Mr. In 1969, as in 1962, the Lakers led Boston after five games only to drop the last two contests. At such a time, Oscar Robertson set the game afire with his spate of triple-doubles for the Cincinnati Royals. Personally, I value all-around players who can do everything on the court shoot, rebound, pass and as such, though West was probably a better scorer and defender, I prefer Robertson with his historically dynamic all-around game and ability to dominate in all aspects. Your email address will not be published. But I could never have played for the Lakers again, and I wasn't going to play for anybody else. He played West as a guard, in contrast to West's college days as a forward. The Minneapolis Lakers chose West with the second overall pick . The game, which was the Lakers' first home game of . [81] They have two sons, Ryan and Jonnie. ". They were also both on the gold medal winning team at the 1959 Pan American Games. The Big O appeared on the Knuckleheads podcast to discuss his favorite players in league history. They accomplished their mission of beating the USSR, too, winning 81-57. While his famous triple-double season would come a year later, Robertson got off to a fast start right out of the gate during his 1960-61 rookie season in which he . The team had posted a 25-50 record in its last season in Minneapolis. Media createst the impression that Oh, he had a triple-double! he did something spectacular. West returned, however, and helped make history. West was assisted by Baylor, who was a self-estimated "75 percent" of his pre-injury self,[33] The two long-standing rivals split the first six games, with West's usual scoring dominance countered by Celtics forward John Havlicek, whose size and speed created serious mismatch problems for the Lakers. The championship was West's first-ever NBA title. It was particularly frustrating because I was playing so poorly that the team overcame me. Naturally, West enrolled at WVU, where he was a two-time All-American and averaged 24.8 ppg. [37] Coach Van Breda Kolff was concerned about the drain at the guard positions after losing Clark, and especially after losing Goodrich in the expansion draft to the Phoenix Suns. [35] The 52 wins were accumulated despite West playing only 51 regular season games due to injury[22] and scoring 26.3 points, the lowest average since his rookie year: after being a First-Teamer for six times en bloc, he only made the All-NBA Second Team. [42] As after Baylor's injury years before, West stepped into the void, leading the NBA in scoring average with 31.2 points per game, and averaging 4.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game, earning him his first of four All-Defensive First Team votes and another All-NBA First Team berth after two Second Team years. Oscar Robertson. His mother lashed him when he showed up hours late for dinner and he became so thin that he had to receive vitamin injections.But the practice paid off. By Oscar Robertson Aug. 7, 2010 Let me tell you about the original Dream Team, the 1960 United States Olympic gold medalist basketball team coached by Pete Newell, with Jerry West and me as the co . [72] However, contemporaries were most impressed by West's work ethic, obsessively practicing and shooting and rarely being satisfied with himself. He made an NBA record 840 free throws, and earned yet another pair of All-Star Team and All-NBA First Team nominations. 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Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site a.!

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