Jerry West is arguably the greatest Laker ever: A championship player, a coach, and the general manager architect of the Showtime era.
In the wake of West’s passing last June, the Lakers will honor “the logo” by wearing a “44” patch on their jerseys this season.
Well played Lakers.
To be clear, this isn’t for just the one game when the Lakers honor West on opening night Oct. 22, it is for the entire season.
West’s resume can stack up with anyone: A 14-time All-Star, NBA champion, 12-time All-NBA, Olympic gold medalist, scoring champion, league assist leader, and part of the NBA’s 50th and 75th-anniversary teams, as well as the only player to win Finals MVP on the losing team (averaging 37.9 points and 7.4 assists a game in the 1969 NBA Finals) — and that’s just as a player. That’s not including his time as one of the best and most respected GMs and front office minds in the league, working with the Warriors during the formation of their golden Stephen Curry era, as well as with the Grizzlies and the Clippers (during the best seasons of that Los Angeles franchise).