Jerry West

West, Jerry (1938– ), U.S. basketball player and coach. Known for his high scoring as well as ball-handling and defense, he scored 25,192 regular-season points in his National Basketball Association (NBA) career. His achievements include 2 Most Valuable Player awards—1 Playoff (1969) and 1 All-Star (1972)—and appearing in 13 All-Star games. West played for the Los Angeles Lakers (1960–74), leading them to a championship (1972) and, after retiring, became the team's head coach (1976–79) and later, general manager (1982– ). He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979.