With the 2019 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From a comeback win to clinch the 1954 tourney title (65th anniversary) through a last-second loss in the 2014 Final 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Jay Jacobs, who was 1 of Jerry West’s teammates at West Virginia. West has been involved in championship series for most of his life: he won a state title at East Bank High School in 1956, was named 1959 NCAA tourney MOP despite a 1-PT loss to Cal in the title game, won an Olympic gold medal with team USA in 1960, made an incredible 9 NBA Finals with the Lakers in a 12-year span as a player from 1962-1973 (including an NBA Finals MVP award in 1969 and a championship ring in 1972), then after moving to the front office he won 8 more rings as an executive with the Lakers/Warriors. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980 and again in 2010 as co-captain of the 1960 US Olympic team, as well as the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jay about the 60th anniversary of losing the 1959 NCAA title by a single point and being “the Logo”.
Despite West Virginia being ranked #1 entering the 1958 NCAA tourney, West only scored 10 PTS in a 5-PT loss at Madison Square Garden to Manhattan (who was led by 29 PTS/15 REB from Jack Powers): how on earth did they get upset? That was on a Monday night but the problem occurred 2 days before. We were a huge favorite to win the SoCon tourney but we kept Don Vincent on the floor too long. Don broke his leg while we had a 27-PT lead, which turned out to be a disaster. We only had 1 travel day, it changed our entire rotation, and we got kicked in the pants.
In the 1959 NCAA tourney title game West had 28 PTS/11 REB (and was named tourney MOP after scoring an NCAA-record-tying 160 PTS in 5 games), but Darrall Imhoff tipped in the title-winning basket with 17 seconds left in a 1-PT win by Cal: how devastating was that loss, and how did he feel about being named MOP in a losing effort? Jerry is a winner so whatever he did was with expertise/100% effort. We beat Louisville in the Final 4 but had a bad game against Cal. Imhoff was terrific and they made all the plays necessary to win. Jerry played great at the end: if we had 10 more seconds then we probably would have won. It was devastating.
In December 1959 he broke his nose against Kentucky in the 1st half, but despite only being able to breathe though his mouth he scored 19 PTS in the 2nd half to lead his team to the win: how on earth was he able to play so well with a broken nose? Our trainer patched him up and he did not want to come out. It was very rare for any visitor to win the Kentucky Invitational: Coach Adolph Rupp said it was 1 of the finest performances that he had ever witnessed.
In the 1960 NCAA tourney West had 34 PTS/16 REB in a 1-PT OT loss to NYU: did he feel that he was just not destined to win a title in college? I would not put it that way. The 1958 team was the best squad we ever put on the floor, yet they lost in the 1st round. The 1959 team was not as good, yet almost won the title. A lot of players had left by Jerry’s senior year so it was not as good a team as we had the previous 2 years. He later played on some great teams with the Lakers with some amazing players, yet won only 1 NBA title.
He was co-captain of the 1960 Olympic gold medal team in Rome (along with Oscar Robertson) that was inducted into the Hall of Fame a half-century later: was that the greatest team he had ever been a part of, and what was it like to play with Imhoff after losing to him in the title game only 1 year earlier? Not only did Imhoff become his teammate on that team, but they also played together in LA. My dad had a clothing store in Morgantown and I remember Jerry hanging out there after the Olympics. Jack Kent Cooke moved the Lakers from Minneapolis to LA and Hot Rod Hundley was on that team, as well as Jerry’s college coach (Fred Schaus). Jerry got better and better each year: even though he was a hell of a college player he was even better as a pro because he realized what it took to be a pro player. His philosophy was that the harder he worked the better he got and the more confident he became. He did not play as a college freshman and did not even start at the very beginning of his sophomore year. He was very focused and knew what it took to get there.
In the summer of 1960 he was drafted 2nd overall by the Lakers, who had just relocated from Minneapolis: was it weird to be going to a team that was starting over in a new city, and what did it mean to him to be drafted? He knew that he would be drafted near the top so I believe that he was excited to be a Laker. To go from Morgantown to Rome to LA was incredible. Jerry and Hot Rod really hit it off but Schaus felt that Hot Rod’s lifestyle was not something he wanted to expose Jerry to. There was a player 1 year ahead of Jerry named Bobby Joe Smith who grew up within 15 miles of Jerry/Hot Rod. The Lakers drafted Smith and he made the team in Minneapolis. However, ownership felt there were too many West Virginians on the team and Smith was the 1 who had to go as the odd man out.
In Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals Frank Selvy missed a jumper at the end of regulation and the Lakers had a 3-PT OT loss as Bob Cousy dribbled out the clock: how dominant was Bill Russell (30 PTS/40 REB)? He called Russell 1 of the great centers of all time but realized that there were great players around Russell as well.
In the 1st round of the 1965 playoffs against Baltimore he averaged 46.3 PPG, which is still an NBA record for the highest scoring average in a single playoff series: what was his secret to being a great scorer? He is the Logo! He was great at taking what the defense gave him. He was a tall lanky guy who played above his 6’4” size due to his 6’7” wingspan. He never got as much credit for his steals. When people set screens for him you never knew where he would make his shots from. You knew that Oscar would back you in with his body and then make a fadeaway jumper that was unstoppable, but with Jerry it was more of a jump shot while facing the basket: he rarely took bad shots.
Before Game 1 of the 1969 NBA Finals he complained to Russell of exhaustion, then scored 53 PTS in a 2-PT win: was he telling Russell the truth, and how was he able to play so well after being so tired? Whatever he said was truthful: if he was exhausted then he must have just been playing on adrenaline.
In Game 7 of the 1970 Finals Willis Reed famously hobbled up the court to score the 1st 4 PTS of the night and inspired his team to 1 of the most famous playoff upsets of all time (Walt Frazier had 36 PTS/19 AST): was he surprised to see Reed come out of the locker room, and how dominant was Frazier that night? I remember when Reed went out that Frazier just picked up the offensive slack. I am pretty sure that they did not guard each other so I assume it was a scoring battle and the Lakers had the momentum until Reed came limping out of the locker room.
In 1972 under future Hall of Fame coach Bill Sharman the Lakers had an unprecedented 33-game win streak en route to a then-record 69 regular season wins, and West led the league with a career-high 9.7 APG: how was he able to balance his scoring with his passing, and how were they able to stay focused for 33 straight games? I do not remember the streak but he was a great passer who prided himself on his play-making. He would not throw the ball away if it was a 50-50 decision, even though he would take some 50-50 shots. He was good friends with Sharman and they later worked in the Lakers’ front office together.
He played in 9 NBA Finals and his career playoff scoring average of 29.1 PPG is 2nd only to Michael Jordan (33.5 PPG): how was he able to play his best when it mattered the most? The easy answer is that he was the best player in the world at the time. It did not matter where he was: his demeanor was all business and it took a lot for him to get upset. He wanted to go onto the court with the confidence to go against anyone. I remember him several years ago at our fantasy camp: he spoke for 45 minutes and everyone was just spellbound. He talked about perfecting his skills and working hard at everything that he did.
After retiring in 1976 he became coach of the Lakers and led them to the playoffs in each of his 3 years, then was named GM of the Lakers in 1982 and saw them win 7 titles over the next 3 decades: how was he able to succeed in every single facet of the game as player/coach/GM? He was asked to become the Lakers coach but it was a hard decision for him. It was hard for him when his players could not meet his high expectations, which worked for him as a player but was much harder as a coach. Jerry is considered the greatest evaluator of talent in the game today, which is why the Clippers still use him in an advisory capacity at age 80. When he was with the Lakers he was the 1 who could foresee that even as a teenager Kobe Bryant would turn into a superstar, which was a good decision!
When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? You cannot have any of the stars of today without mentioning Jerry. He made most of his money as a GM in Memphis: the owner of Fed Ex loved Jerry and he made great strides out there. The past 2 decades he has lived off of his ability to evaluate talent.
