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Jerry WestJerry Alan West (born May 29, 1938 in Chelyan, West Virginia) has had one of the most successful careers ever in professional basketball, first as a player, then as a coach and finally as an executive. His dribbling silhouette is used in the National Basketball Association's official logo. Like most NBA players, West was a standout in high school and at college - he attended West Virginia University, leading them to the 1959 NCAA championship game - before embarking on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also played for the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome. In his career, West scored 25,192 points, averaged 27.0 points per game, made 7,160 free throws and 6,238 assists. West was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times, to the All-NBA First Team 10 times, to the All-Star team 14 times, and 1980 he was named to the NBA's 35th Anniversary All-Time Team. A clutch shooter, West averaged 29.1 points per game in 153 playoff games, including 40.6 in 11 playoff games in 1965, and sunk one of the most famous shots in NBA history: a 60-footer with no time remaining to send a 1970 championship game into overtime. Despite this, West's only NBA championship was won in 1972. He retired two years later, then became a coach who carried the Lakers into the playoffs in his three seasons 1976-1979, after which he was hired as an executive for the club in various positions. In 1982, he was named general manager of the Lakers, and through shrewd trades and draft picks, rebuilt the Lakers into a championship-caliber team that won 4 titles in the 1980s. Following a slump in the early 1990s, West was named NBA Executive of the Year in 1995 after his Lakers reached the playoffs. The Lakers eventually won six titles with him in the front office. In 2002 he was hired as President of Basketball Operations by the Memphis Grizzlies. Although it was the worst team in the NBA at that time, West quietly rebuilt the team. In 2004, the Grizzlies won 50 games for the first time in its history, and he was named NBA Executive of the Year for the second time. West, Jerry West, Jerry West, Jerry West, Jerry West, Jerry
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