Jerry West

Jerome Alan West is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "the Logo", in reference to his silhouette being the basis for the NBA logo; "Mr. Clutch", for his ability to make a big play in a key situation such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks; "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. West played the small forward position early in his career: he was a standout at East Bank High School and at West Virginia University, where he led the Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship game. He earned the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honor despite the loss in the championship. 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, a squad that was inducted as a unit into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2024, he will be inducted to the Hall of Fame as a contributor to the sport as an executive and consultant.

28 May 1938

Born on the same birth day (28 May): Bryant Dunston • Ingmar Vos • Jake Johnson • John Stones • John the Fearless • Mary Portas • Miljenko Jergović • Rachel Kempson • William Shawcross

Born in the same month (May 1938): Herbie Flowers • Igor Ter-Ovanesyan • Ivan Sutherland • Janet Fish • Jason Bernard • Johnny Paycheck • Lyudmila Petrushevskaya • Marcia Freedman • Omar Abdel-Rahman • Raymond Carver