No. 2: Jerry West
As mentioned in the ranking of shooting guards, Zeke is the greatest “combo guard” the NBA has ever seen. He played both backcourt positions equally well depending on who his partner was. Therefore, he’s been ranked at both point guard and shooting guard.
The Minneapolis Lakers drafted Jerry No. 2 in the 1960 draft behind the fabulous Oscar Robertson. But the team moved to LA shortly thereafter, so West played his entire 14-year career in the City of the Angels.
If anyone wonders why he was nicknamed Mr. Clutch, these two plays might provide some background. At the very end of Game 3 of the 1962 Finals, he stole a Celtics inbounds pass and turned it into a last-second layup to beat Boston. In Game 3 of the 1970 Finals, his ¾ court buzzer-beating swish forced overtime against the Knicks.
His biggest frustrations occurred in the NBA Finals, particularly against those hated Boston Celtics. Six times in eight years between 1962 and 1969, his Lakers made it to the final round, and each time they lost to Boston. Three of those series went seven games, so you’d think the law of averages would apply and LA would have won at least once.
Jerry got revenge of sorts as the general manager of the Lakers in the 1980s when the purple & gold won two out of three times. But all these years later, he says he still despises and refuses to wear the color green.
West, a deluxe scorer, is still 4th in total points in the NBA among full-time guards behind Bryant, Michael Jordan and Robertson (5th if you count Reggie Miller, who played a fair amount of small forward). He is also 6th all-time in points per game (27.0) at any position, and two active players ranked barely above him, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, haven’t yet experienced the inevitable downturn in their careers. Also, Jerry played before the NBA instituted the 3-point shot. Had that rule been in effect in his day, he, of course, would have tallied considerably more points.
But his prolific scoring took little away from his playmaking ability for his teammates. He ranks 36th all-time in assists per game (6.7), and only a handful of the those ranked ahead of him were also big scorers.
In 1971-72, the season that the Lakers won a record 33 straight games and captured their first-ever title in LA, West was a full-time point guard teamed with Gail Goodrich in the backcourt. Jerry averaged 25.8 points that year while also leading the NBA with 9.7 assists per game.
Many other statistical achievements and accolades were detailed in the “10 Best Lakers Shooting Guards” portion of this series.
Overall, West’s game had no weaknesses. He excelled at all facets- passing, shooting from outside, driving to the hoop, defending and rebounding. As most readers probably know, his likeness was chosen for the NBA logo.
After he retired he coached the Lakers for three moderately successful seasons, but the position didn’t suit his temperament. He then moved into the front office and was an architect of the Lakers Showtime dynasty.
There is no doubt that West ranks in the upper echelon of Laker players as well as one of the greatest guards in league history.