Greatest player of all time to never win league MVP, the only player ever to earn Finals MVP in a losing cause and yet so synonymous with the NBA that his silhouette is unofficially the league’s logo.
jerry west index
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- As Lakers legend
- As #2 overall NBA Draft pick
- Finished second in NBA league MVP voting but never won
- In the 1966 NBA Finals
- In the 1969 NBA Finals
- Missing out on league MVP in a controversial voting (1970)
- Never named NBA league MVP
- Nicknamed “The Logo”
- On ’71-’72 Los Angeles Lakers (greatest teams)
- On 1960 U.S. Olympic team
- Winning Finals MVP in a controversial voting (1969)
Associated topics
los angeles lakers
elgin baylor
nba finals
west virginia
olympics and world cup
coaches
executives and owners
names and nicknames
wilt chamberlain
rivalries and feuds
FEATURED jerry west chapters
From downtown: 13 great long distance shooters who played before the three-point line era
Long before modern analytics incentivized three-point shooting, these star players were bombing away from long distance, even though it counted the same as a lay-up.
Can’t blame me: 15 greatest individual NBA Finals performances in a losing effort
The NBA Finals is where legends are truly made and the 15 performances below are no exception. However, in these cases, the mythologizing was earned in a losing effort.
Mostly valuable: 17 greatest players who never earned NBA league MVP
Whether they were stuck on non-contenders, unlucky to go up against bigger legends, or simply robbed of the award, these are the 17 greatest players to never win the NBA…
Hollywood walk of fame: 31 greatest players in Lakers franchise history
In our continuing series counting down the greatest players for each team, we start with the legendary Lakers, from their Minneapolis days to Showtime to Kobe and Shaq and beyond
FULL jerry west archive
In memoriam: 24 prominent basketball people who passed away in 2024
A singular defensive powerhouse, a legendary jovial big man, multiple college coach Hall of Famers, and “The Logo” are amongst those we lost in 2024.
Who’s going to Disney World?: Seven controversial NBA Finals MVP choices
Starting with the first time it was awarded, the Finals MVP award has been an occasional source of controversy. Here are seven such cases, some of which forever altered the individual legacy of the players involved.
Gold standards: Ranking the 18 U.S. men’s Olympic basketball teams
From the original “dream team” that brought home gold from Berlin in 1936 (with James Naismith watching) to the legendary 1992 edition to the latest American champions in 2016, we rank the 18 U.S. men’s basketball teams based on both their performance at the Olympics and their roster as a whole.
Fraudulent voting: 20 controversial NBA league MVP decisions
As is bound to be the case whenever humans are making objective decisions based on subjective criteria, the NBA MVP winners have not always made sense in retrospect. Sometimes, they don’t even make sense as they’re being awarded. These are the 20 most notable cases.
Second in the draft, first in our hearts: 21 greatest second overall picks in the NBA Draft
The best players don’t always go #1, and sometimes the overlooked guys picked #2 have the last laugh. Here is a list of the 22 second overall picks who had the best NBA careers.
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