The basketball world has bid farewell to some NBA legends during this playoff season.
Jerry West, the legendary player and executive, died Wednesday at the age of 86. His contributions on and off the court for the Los Angeles Lakers and other teams are being remembered across the league, as well as locally.
A player, a coach, and a general manager, West had a career like few others. The West Virginia native played his 14-year career with the Lakers, with over a dozen All-Star nods and an NBA championship in 1972. And he’s the only person to win a Final MVP award while being on the losing team in ’69.
Known as "Mr. Clutch," "Mr. Outside" and "Mr. Logo," once he was off the court, West continued to help build one of the most dominant Lakers teams in history throughout the 80s.
As his career took him all over the country, he made more than a few stops in Springfield, Massachusetts, home of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
“He had incredible talent - not just with the Lakers, but the Warriors - he had a big role in molding that team, that became the iconic team that just recently won with Steph Curry, and he was there at the onset of that,” Scott Zuffelato, vice president of philanthropy at the Hall of Fame, told WAMC. “And then, prior to that, was with the Memphis Grizzlies when they had some really great success after the move from Vancouver.”
Zuffelato describes West as a man who believed in the history of the game and was an avid supporter of the hall and the figures honored by it.
“He was always willing to help, he was always willing to take a call on our behalf or make a call on the Hall of Fame's behalf,” he said. “He was a really, really good friend of the Hall of Fame and came to Springfield quite often to participate in enshrinement, to stand up for others that were elected and, as a Hall of Famer, would present different individual players.”
West was inducted as a player in 1980 and in 2010 as part of the 1960 Olympic Gold Medal team. He was set to be enshrined again this year for his contributions to the game.
Zuffelato added that another Hall of Famer, Chet Walker, also died in recent days. “Chet the Jet” was a seven-time All-Star and staple of the Philadelphia 76ers throughout the 60s, and later the Chicago Bulls.
And weeks beforehand, another big supporter of the hall was lost when Bill Walton died at 71.
“Oh, man. Bill - he was probably our most frequent visitor of all the Hall of Famers,” he said.
Walton died in late May. A decorated center and two-time NBA champion – one with the Portland Trail Blazers, the other with the Boston Celtics – Walton had a presence like few others, both as a player and a broadcaster.
Zuffelato highlighted his kindness and enthusiasm – and told WAMC of the time the hall was honoring the legacy of UCLA coach John Wooden.
Walton, one of Wooden’s recruits, leapt at the chance to take part.
“His coach, John Wooden, we were honoring - with one of our programs,” he recounted. “And Bill jumped onboard and wanted to be involved as much as he could, and he went all out. So, when he says he's going to do something, he's all in, right? He goes above and beyond. So, we had a beautiful dinner out there to honor Coach Wooden, and Bill was our guest speaker of course.”
Another loss, Zuffelato says – Robert Hughes - the winningest coach in the history of boys high school basketball. Among his accomplishments, Hughes won 1,333 games across a coaching career that spanned 1958 to 2005 in Fort Worth, Texas, including five state championships.
Highlighting his career, Zuffelato emphasized that all four men’s accomplishments have special meaning and contributed to the game in ways that merit a spot in the Hall of Fame, joining some 500 players and teams honored.
“It's a very, very low percentage of people that are electable and have been elected to the Hall of Fame, and so - put that in the big, big picture: Coach Hughes being elected - about the same time as a Shaquille O'Neal,” he said. “They had their own impact on the game and guys like Robert and Chet and Bill, and, of course, Jerry, I mean, they all had different ways to impact the game. And that's why we were just privileged to be able to honor them and memorialize them - they were all special and had just incredible meaning to our great game.”
This year’s Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies will be held on Oct. 12-13.
Among those to be honored, in addition to Jerry West, are Vince Carter, Walter Davis, and Seimone Augustus.
