Jerry West Research Papers

There have been many iconic and successful basketball players throughout history. Basketball has quickly climbed to one of America’s top sports. Every player talks about what they’ve accomplished and what they dream of. One man that fulfilled his dreams through his work was Jerry West. Jerry West dedicated all of his time to become one of the greatest players ever and he did. He is a hero of basketball even to this day. Jerry Alan West was born on May 28, 1938. He was born in a small town in West Virginia called Cheylan. He was born into a poor family in which he had five other siblings. His father was Howard West and his mother was Cecile Sue. His childhood was largely shaped by basketball and tragedy. He was close to his eldest brother,

When draft day came, West was selected number two overall by the Los Angeles Lakers, then known as the Minneapolis Lakers. His rookie year, West helped lead the Lakers to a 36-43 record, leaps and bounds better than the previous year when the Lakers finished 25-50. They also went to the playoffs only to lose in the Western Conference Finals. The next year, Jerry and the Lakers finished 54-26. Jerry averaged over 30 points. They went to the Finals that year and then lost, but West showed tremendous improvement that season. They went back to the Finals the next season and again lost to the Celtics in a 4-2 series. Even with West and Elgin Baylor it wasn’t enough to overcome the Celtics. Just a few years into the league it was apparent that West was becoming a great leader for the Lakers. Averaging between 20-30 points almost every season of his first five seasons, excluding his rookie year. He was quickly becoming a force bringing more than just scoring. He could really do it all. Encyclopedia.com said that he focused on being a perfectionist. He had games where he would do just that, try to be perfect. Then in 1968 Wilt Chamberlain joined the Lakers franchise. Throughout the 1960’s the Lakers and Celtics faced off in the Finals six different times and the Celtics won everyone. Even though they lost the 1969 Finals, Jerry got the MVP of the Finals. This would be his only Finals MVP. Jerry would win

He is personally one of my heroes because my favorite team is the Lakers. Growing up I loved watching them and eventually I started looking back into their history in the NBA. That’s when I came upon Jerry West. He stood out more than a lot of the other great players in Lakers history. One reason he did is because he proved that size didn’t matter in the aspect of basketball. He was a small kid growing up and was even small compared to the other basketball players, but they never stopped him. He always strived to be the best he could be despite his size. He worked on developing himself instead of focusing on his weaknesses. To see what he did as a player inspired me to play basketball. Another thing that made him a hero in my eyes is how much he accomplished. He may not have six rings like Jordan, but he did a lot more than win rings. He led every team he ever played for to a championship. That is a hero in my eyes because not every person can say that they led all their teams to championships in high school, college, and professionally. He had an amazing professional career which really stood out for who he was. A poor boy who grew up in West Virginia who went on to take the NBA by storm and become one of the best players ever. He’s been one of my heroes ever since I started looking more into sports and paying attention to them. Jerry West was one of the people who made basketball the great sport it is