Los Angeles Lakers (1960–1974)
West made himself available for the 1960 NBA draft, and he was drafted with the second overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers, shortly before the team relocated to Los Angeles. West became the first draft pick ever of the relocated franchise. His college coach, Schaus, was also hired that same season to coach the Lakers. He played West as a guard, in contrast to West's college days as a forward. The Lakers were captained by Hall-of-Fame forward Elgin Baylor, who was complemented by centers Jim Krebs and Ray Felix; forwards Rudy LaRusso and Tom Hawkins; and guards Rod Hundley (from West Virginia, like West), Frank Selvy, and Bobby Leonard. This team perennially had strong forwards and guards, but was constantly weak at center, giving them a disadvantage against the Boston Celtics with their Hall-of-Fame center, Bill Russell.
Initially, West felt odd in his new environment. He was a loner. His high-pitched voice earned him the nickname "Tweety Bird", and he spoke with such a thick Appalachian accent that his teammates also referred to him as "Zeke from Cabin Creek" (his nickname acknowledged his country roots, and his accent was so thick that he squeaked his nickname sheepishly – "Zeek from Cab'n Creek"). He soon impressed his colleagues with his defensive hustle, with his vertical jump—he could reach up 16 inches above the rim when he went up—and with his work ethic, spending countless extra hours working on his game. On the floor, West scored 17.6 points, grabbed 7.7 rebounds and dished 4.2 assists per game. West won Schaus's trust and, alternating with Hundley, Selvy, and Leonard, played 35 minutes per game and established himself as the Lakers' second scoring option. The NBA commented that the Lakers now had a potent one-two-punch—with "Mr. Inside" (the low-post scorer, Baylor) and "Mr. Outside" (the long-distance shooter, West). These performances soon earned West his first of 14 NBA All-Star Game call-ups.
West helped the Lakers improve from their previous 25-win season to 36 wins as they reached the 1961 NBA playoffs. They needed all five games to put away the Detroit Pistons but then lost to the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, losing the final game 105–103.
In the 1961–62 NBA season, Baylor was called up by the U.S. Army Reserves and could play only 48 games. West took over the role of team leader and established himself as the main Lakers scorer, averaging 30.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, winning All-NBA First Team honors. On January 17, 1962, West scored a career-high 63 points in a 129–121 win over the New York Knicks. West became known especially for hitting important late-game shots, and Lakers' announcer Chick Hearn named him "Mr. Clutch" a handle which stuck with West for his entire career.
The Lakers won 54 regular season games and secured a first-round bye in the 1962 NBA playoffs. They beat the Pistons four games to two to advance to the 1962 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. The teams split the first two games, and at the end of game 3 in Los Angeles, West tied the game at 115. The Celtics' Sam Jones inbounded the ball at half-court with three seconds left. West stole the ball, raced up court, and converted a running layup as the buzzer sounded. The Celtics tied the series in game 6 at three games apiece, and the teams headed to Boston for game 7. For most of the game, the Lakers trailed, but West and Frank Selvy hit several clutch baskets and tied the game at 100. Selvy then missed an open 8-foot shot which would have won the Lakers their first title. Baylor's tip-in attempt was thwarted by Sam Jones. In overtime, Jones scored several clutch baskets to ensure a 110–107 win for the Celtics. The 1962 NBA Finals would serve as the beginning of the greatest rivalry in NBA history.
In the 1962–63 NBA season, Baylor was back full-time. West averaged 27.8 points, 7 rebounds and 5.6 assists and was again NBA All-Star and All-NBA First-Team. He played only 55 regular season games, missing the last seven weeks due to a hamstring injury. Again, the Lakers reached the 1963 Finals, and again, they battled the Celtics. With West not yet in shape, Baylor and the Lakers fell back 3–2; then they succumbed in game 6 in front of their home crowd with a 112–109 loss. As the game ended, veteran Celtics playmaker Bob Cousy threw the ball high into the rafters of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
In the following 1963–64 NBA season, West became the Lakers' scoring leader for the first time. His 28.7 points per game eclipsed the 25.4 by Baylor, who stated that he suffered from knee problems. 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.
In the following 1964–65 NBA season, West averaged a then-career-high 31.0 points. After ending the regular season with 49 wins, the Lakers played the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the 1965 NBA playoffs, but then team captain Baylor suffered a career-threatening knee injury. West spectacularly took over Baylor's leading role, as he scored 49 points and willed the shocked Lakers to the win. In game 2, Baltimore was unable to stop the Lakers guard, who scored 52 points, nearly half of Los Angeles' total, in the 118–115 win. The Bullets took their two home games, despite West scoring 44 and 48 points respectively, but in the decisive game 5 in Los Angeles, the guard helped beat the Bullets with 42 points in a close 117–115 win. West averaged 46.3 points per game, a figure that is still an NBA record. In the 1965 NBA Finals, the Celtics easily beat the short-handed Lakers, 4–1. In game 1, which Boston easily won, defensive Celtics guard K. C. Jones held West to only 26 points, and in game 2, West scored 45 points, but Boston still won 129–123. In game 3, West scored 49 points, and the Lakers finally won a game, but in games 4 and 5, they were beaten by double digits; in the last quarter of game 5, West missed 14 of 15 shots and could not prevent yet another Celtics win. Still, the Lakers guard finished the playoffs with 40.6 points per game.
In the 1965–66 NBA season, West averaged a career-best 31.3 points, along with 7.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. He made an NBA record 840 free throws, and earned yet another pair of All-Star Team and All-NBA First Team nominations. Winning 45 games, the Lakers beat the St. Louis Hawks in a close seven-game series, and yet again met the Boston Celtics in the 1966 NBA Finals. West was assisted by Baylor, who was a self-estimated "75 percent" of his pre-injury self, 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. In game 7, West and Baylor shot a combined three of 18 in the first half, and the Lakers fell far behind; they willed themselves back to a close 95–93 with four seconds left, but the Celtics ran the clock out and the Lakers were denied yet again.
The 1966–67 NBA season saw West playing only 66 regular season games due to injury; his averages fell slightly to 28 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. The Lakers had a disappointing season, winning only 36 games and getting swept by the San Francisco Warriors in the first round of the 1967 NBA playoffs. Veteran coach Fred Schaus retired, and Butch Van Breda Kolff took over; under his reign, the Lakers won 52 games in the 1967–68 NBA season in their first season in The Forum. The 52 wins were accumulated despite West playing only 51 regular season games due to injury 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.
In the 1968 NBA playoffs, the Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls and the Warriors to set up yet another Lakers–Celtics NBA Finals; it was considered a match of size versus speed, as the Lakers had nobody to guard Celtics coach/center Bill Russell or forward John Havlicek close to the basket, but the Celtics in return had difficulties guarding prolific Lakers' outside shooters Baylor, West and fellow guard Gail Goodrich. In game 1, West only hit seven of 24 shots, and the Lakers lost 107–101, but they evened out the series at two games each. 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. In game 5, an injured West scored 35 points, but Boston won by 3 points. 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. But I take nothing from them... They're all that way on the Celtics, and you can't teach it."
On July 9, 1968, the Lakers made a trade that brought reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers to Los Angeles at the beginning of the 1968–69 NBA season. To get the center, the Lakers traded West's backcourt partner Archie Clark, starting center Darrall Imhoff and backup forward Jerry Chambers to Philadelphia. 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. He only had diminutive, defensively weak Johnny Egan left next to West. While West himself got on well with his new teammate, Chamberlain often argued with team captain Elgin Baylor and had a poor relationship with Van Breda Kolff. 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. In return, the center blasted Van Breda Kolff as "the dumbest and worst coach ever". There was an altercation in which Chamberlain was about to punch Van Breda Kolff before Baylor had intervened. 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. He made the Second Team of the inaugural All-Defensive Team.
In the 1969 NBA playoffs, the 55-win Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks and the San Francisco Warriors, setting up the sixth finals series versus Boston in eight years. Before game 1, West privately complained to Bill Russell of exhaustion, but then the Lakers guard scored 53 points on Boston in a close two-point win. The Lakers also took game 2, with West scoring 41 points. 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 six points. Game 4 saw Celtics guard Sam Jones hit an off-balance buzzer beater to tie the series, but in game 5, the Lakers struck back and won by 13 points. West – who scored 39 points and by far led all players in scoring during the entire series – lunged for a meaningless late-game ball and seriously pulled his hamstring: it was immediately visible that the injury would not heal until the end of the series. Limping, he scored 26 points in game 6, but the Celtics won 99–90 with a strong Bill Russell, who held Chamberlain to only 8 points in the entire game. In game 7, Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had put up thousands of balloons in the rafters of the Forum in Los Angeles. This display of arrogance motivated the Celtics and angered West. The Lakers trailed the entire game and were behind 91–76 after three quarters, but powered by a limping West, the Lakers closed the gap to 103–102 with two minutes to go and had the ball. But West committed costly turnovers and Los Angeles lost the game 108–106 despite a triple-double of 42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists from West, who became the only recipient of the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award from the losing team. After the loss West was seen as the ultimate tragic hero: after the game, Bill Russell held his hand, and John Havlicek said: "I love you, Jerry".
In the 1969–70 NBA season under new coach Joe Mullaney, the Lakers' season began with a shock when Wilt Chamberlain seriously injured his knee and missed practically the whole regular season. 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. The Lakers won 46 games, and in the 1970 NBA playoffs, they narrowly beat the Phoenix Suns in seven games and swept the Hawks in four, setting up the first NBA Finals between the Lakers and the rugged New York Knicks, led by Hall-of-Famers such as Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, and Walt Frazier. The Lakers and Knicks split the first two games, with both games respectively decided by centers Reed and the still-hobbling Chamberlain. In game 3, DeBusschere hit a mid-range jump shot with three seconds left to put the Knicks ahead 102–100, and the Lakers had no time-outs left. Chamberlain inbounded the ball to West, who raced past Walt Frazier and threw up a 60-foot shot. Frazier later commented: "The man's crazy. He looks determined. He thinks it's going in!" West incredibly connected, and this basket was later called one of the greatest moments ever by the NBA. As the three-point line had not been introduced yet, the shot just tied the game. In overtime, West sprained his left hand and missed all five of his shots, and the Knicks won 111–108. In game 4, the guard scored 37 points and 18 assists, and the Lakers won. More frustration awaited West in game 5, when Reed pulled his thigh muscle and seemed out for the series; instead of capitalizing on a double-digit lead and reeling off an easy win, the Lakers committed 19 second-half turnovers, and the two main scorers Chamberlain and West shot the ball only three and two times, respectively, in the entire second half and lost 107–100 in what was called one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history. After Chamberlain scored 45 points and West 31 points plus 13 assists in a series-equalizing 135–113 Lakers win, the Lakers seemed favorites prior to game 7. West had also injured his right hand and taken several manual injections, and Reed hobbled up court before game 7 – the Knicks center scored the first four points, and inspired his team to one of the most famous playoff upsets of all time. With his injured hands, West still hit nine of his 19 shots, but was outplayed by Walt Frazier, who scored 36 points and 19 assists and was credited with several crucial steals on Lakers guard Dick Garrett.
In the 1970–71 NBA season, the Lakers reacquired Gail Goodrich, who came back from the Phoenix Suns after playing for the Lakers until 1968. At age 32, West averaged 26.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 9.5 assists, and helped the Lakers win 46 games and make the 1971 NBA playoffs. After losing Elgin Baylor to an Achilles tendon rupture that effectively ended his career, West himself injured his knee and was out for the season; the short-handed Lakers lost the Western Conference finals in five games to the championship-bound Milwaukee Bucks, who were led by freshly-crowned Most Valuable Player Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and veteran Hall-of-Fame guard Oscar Robertson.
Before the 1971–72 NBA season, West was smarting from his frequent injuries and losses and considered retirement. The Lakers hired former Celtics star guard and future Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Sharman as head coach. Although injured captain Elgin Baylor ended his career, the Lakers had a season for the ages. The team was powered by Sharman's emphasis on tough defense and fast break offense, and Los Angeles embarked on an unprecedented 33 game win streak, en route to a then-record 69 wins in the regular season. West himself contributed with 25.8 points and led the league with a career-high 9.7 assists per game. He was named All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defense First Teamer and voted 1972 All-Star Game MVP. Prior to the Laker's 33 game team win streak, in which West started every game, the Lakers played 5 games in which West was injured and did not play. The Lakers lost 3 of the 5 games. Prior to that, West started 8 straight games in which the Lakers won each game. As a result, Jerry West had a personal win streak of 41 games in which he started. This is the longest such personal win streak in major American professional sports history.
In the postseason, the Lakers defeated the Chicago Bulls in a four-game sweep, then went on to face the Milwaukee Bucks, and defeated them in six games. In the 1972 NBA Finals, the Lakers again met the New York Knicks. Although West suffered a terrible shooting slump during games 1 and 2, the Lakers tied the series at one win each, and in game 3, he scored 21 points and helped the Lakers win and take a 2-1 series lead. In this game, he reached 4,002 playoff points, which set an all-time NBA record. 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. The championship was West's first-ever NBA title. West conceded that he had played a terrible series and credited the team for the success. Years later he said "I played terrible basketball in the Finals, and we won... It was particularly frustrating because I was playing so poorly that the team overcame me. Maybe that's what a team is all about."
Having overcome this long term frustration, West entered his 13th NBA year. In the 1972–73 NBA season, Goodrich took over as the principal scorer, and West was now primarily again a playmaking guard. He averaged 22.8 points per game but also averaged 8.8 assists and again was a first team selection on the All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defense teams. The Lakers won 60 games and reached the 1973 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. In game 1 West scored 24 points before fouling out with three minutes left; Los Angeles still won game 1 115–112. The Knicks took games 2 and 3, and West strained both of his hamstrings. In game 4, the shorthanded Lakers were no match for New York, and in game 5, both the injured West and Hairston had subpar performances, and despite Chamberlain's 23 points and 21 rebounds, the Lakers lost 102–93 and the series.
The 1973–74 NBA season was to be West's last as a player. Now 36 years old, the veteran guard averaged 20.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. In two newly introduced statistics, steals and blocks, he was credited with 2.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. Despite playing only 31 games due to a strained groin muscle, West was still regarded as an elite guard, earning another selection for his final All-Star Game. Without Chamberlain, who had ended his NBA career, the Lakers won 47 games but lost in five games in the playoffs to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks. West took on the role of team captain for the first time after deferring to Chamberlain in 1972. However, in his last season West only played 14 minutes in the playoffs, possibly due to rumored contractual frustration with Jack Kent Cooke and another groin injury. After this loss, West retired due and filed a suit for unpaid back wages. West wanted to renegotiate his contract and keep playing. He said Cooke "basically told my agent to go to hell. I felt I was deceived. When you feel that you're deceived you don't want any part of the organization that deceived you. I could've played another very good year. Every athlete says that. But I could've, and I knew I could've. But I could never have played for the Lakers again, and I wasn't going to play for anybody else." At the time of his departure, West had scored more points than any other Laker in franchise history.
