Jerry Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American retired
basketball player who played his entire professional career for the
Los Angeles Lakers of the
National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames include
"Mr. Clutch", for his ability to make a big play in a clutch situation, such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the
New York Knicks;
"The Logo", in reference to his silhouette being incorporated into the NBA logo;
"Mr. Outside", in reference to his perimeter play with the
Los Angeles Lakers; and
"Zeke from Cabin Creek", for the creek near his birthplace of
Chelyan, West Virginia. Playing the
small forward position early in his career, West was a standout at East Bank High School and at
West Virginia University, leading the
Mountaineers to the
1959 NCAA championship game, earning the
NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor despite the loss. He then embarked on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was the co-captain of the
1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome, a squad that would be inducted as a unit into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.