Is Jerry West the forgotten man?

[dankok8]

He's the original elite shooting guard prototype aka the white MJ. Jerry was 6'4'' barefoot (same as MJ and Kobe) with a 6'9'' wingspan and surprisingly athletic. Most people think he was a stiff white dude because of how he dribbled the ball. In those days you weren't allowed to palm the ball.

He put up better scoring numbers in the regular season and playoffs than any other SG barring MJ. He has a ton of records still like most points in Finals history, highest points per game in a playoff series. He torched Bill Russell's Celtics who were the best defensive team ever relative to their era and put up statlines like 31/5/3 on 55 %TS, 30/7/5 on 52 %TS, 34/6/3 on 51 %TS, 34/6/5 on 59 %TS, 31/6/6 on 56 %TS and 38/5/7 on 57 %TS. in 6 finals against the Celtics. he averaged 32/6/5 on 54 %TS and that was in an era with far lower league average efficiency. Oh and Mr. West was the best perimeter defender in the league in the late 60's and early 70's. By the early 70's when Gail Goodrich another sharpshooter came on, West became more of a PG and went to averaging less points and more assists. He was a deadeye shooter but had his worst shooting nights of his career in the 1972 playoffs and was overshadowed by the "Wilt won another ring." narrative. He and Wilt were equals on those teams like 1a 1b. West carried the offense and Wilt the defense.

For me I don't see how he can be lower than top 15 ever. I usually rank him in the 13-15 range behind the obvious usual top 12. A lot of what if's surrounding Wilt are always asked but what if West and the Lakers won their three Game 7's against the Celtics in 1962, 1966 and 1969. West would be a 4x champion, 3x as the best player (Baylor was #1 in 1962). He still made the NBA logo though!

[Gudo]

Definitely had great touch from the outside. If only there was the 3pt line back then, he might have even been more of a prolific scorer. I also like his bball iq and feel for the game as a team sport. He is able to look for teammates in good spots.

[SouBeachTalents]

West had arguably the worst luck of any ATG. He averaged 30+ ppg in the Finals 7 times and lost ALL of them. If he wins just 2 or 3 of those his legacy is significantly different. To add further salt to the wound on top of that he finished 2nd in MVP voting 4 times, never winning MVP

[Axe]

West had arguably the worst luck of any ATG. He averaged 30+ ppg in the Finals 7 times and lost ALL of them. If he wins just 2 or 3 of those his legacy is significantly different. To add further salt to the wound on top of that he finished 2nd in MVP voting 4 times, never winning MVP
If he played for the celtics, he would have been their best player but the different system there would affect his play style.

[SouBeachTalents]

If he played for the celtics, he would have been their best player but the different system there would affect his play style.
He would've been their leading scorer, but Russell would've still been the Celtics most valuable/impactful player, at least until the late 60's

[Kblaze8855]

Jerry got a lot of respect in top 10 talks until people decided finals record meant more than basketball after about 65 years.

[coastalmarker99]

West had arguably the worst luck of any ATG. He averaged 30+ ppg in the Finals 7 times and lost ALL of them. If he wins just 2 or 3 of those his legacy is significantly different. To add further salt to the wound on top of that he finished 2nd in MVP voting 4 times, never winning MVP

Wilt had also the worst luck of any Atg as well



1960 breaks his hand against in the playoffs against the Celtics and as a result, they lose in a tough 6 game series to the Celtics



1962 Sam jones hits a dagger to seal the series in game 7 after Wilt had blocked 15 shots up to that point and had recently tied the game with 5 straight points



1965 John steals the ball


1966 let down by his teammates big time in the Ecf against the Celtics

1968 is injured along with many of his teammates in the playoffs that year despite dealing all of that they lose a very close game 7 to the Celtics in which Wilt had 14 points and 34 rebounds plus 13 blocked shots.



1970 suffers a career-threatening knee injury early in the season when it looked as if he was in career-best form up to that point.


1971 both West and Baylor get injured and miss the entire playoffs despite that fact Wilt somehow manages to take a game from one of the goat teams in the 1971 bucks.




1973 West suffers an injury in the finals along with happy which dooms the Lakers against the Knicks in the finals that year

[Round Mound]

He had one of the fastets releases on jump shots but since he wasn't jumpin off the roof and doing acrobatic dunking and layups people think he wasn't that good. The dude could shoot, score, pass, rebound and play D. Its really incredible he had such a high FG% for a shooting guard in the 60s and early 70s. It was 47.4% FG scoring 27.0 PPG taking 20.4 FGAs PG season and 46.9% scoring 29.1 PPG taking 22.6 FGAs PG play-offs? The dude was a mid range specialist.

[Akeem34TheDream]

He couldn't shoot 3s.

[dankok8]

He couldn't shoot 3s.

Actually West had serious range. He hit a half court shot to win Game 3 of the 1969 Finals IIRC. Most his work especially the numbers I posted on the Celtics came on jumpers. You didn't get many layups and dunks on Bill Russell. West was one of those guys who could make enough jumpers to actually hurt the legendary Celtics.

[light]

"Jerry was 6'4'' barefoot (same as MJ and Kobe) with a 6'9'' wingspan and surprisingly athletic."

West was 6'2, not 6'4.

[Thenameless]

No, he's not forgotten. He'll forever be the NBA logo.

Apart from being a fantastic player, he's also one of the best NBA executives ever, if not the best.

My top three shooters of all time are Bird, West, and Curry.

[dankok8]

"Jerry was 6'4'' barefoot (same as MJ and Kobe) with a 6'9'' wingspan and surprisingly athletic."

West was 6'2, not 6'4.

You're wrong. He was 6'2 3/4'' when he was a sophomore in college. By the time he got to the NBA he grew a bit more and was 6'4'' barefoot.

Ask CavsFTW for a source on that if he's still around. He collected this data years ago. Anyways it's a common trend for 60's players to be listed as shorter. Usually their college height is given and always barefoot. Bill Russell in shoes was a 7 footer for example despite listed at 6'9'' or 6'10'' in most places.

[highwhey]

he'd be mauled by today's G league players.

[Thenameless]

he'd be mauled by today's G league players.

Way off man. He'd be shooting the lights out with the likes of Curry and Klay. He was also a great defender.

[iamgine]

West had arguably the worst luck of any ATG. He averaged 30+ ppg in the Finals 7 times and lost ALL of them. If he wins just 2 or 3 of those his legacy is significantly different. To add further salt to the wound on top of that he finished 2nd in MVP voting 4 times, never winning MVP

I dunno about worst luck considering he played with a top 5 MVP his whole career plus later Wilt Chamberlain plus multiple all stars. I'd say he had one of the best luck of any atg.