Jerry West: The Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon
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- ISBN13: 9780345510839
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
When in 1969 the NBA sought an emblem for the league, one man was chosen above all as the icon of his sport: Jerry West. Silhouetted in white against a red-and-blue backdrop, West’s signature gait and left-handed dribble are still the NBA logo, seen on merchandise around the world.
In this marvelous book—the first biography of the basketball legend—award-winning reporter and leader Roland Lazenby traces Jerry West’s brilliant career from the coalfields near Cabin Creek, West Virginia, to the bare-knuckled pre-expansion era of the NBA, from the Lakers’ Riley-Magic-Kareem Showtime era to Jackson–Kobe–Shaq teams of the early twenty-first century, and beyond.
But fame was not all glory.
Called “Mr. Clasp,” West was an incomparable talent—flawless on defense, possessing unmatched court vision, and the perfect jumper, unstoppable when the game was on the line. Beloved and respected by fans and fellow players alike, West was the centerpiece of Lakers teams that starred such players as Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, and he went on to nine NBA Finals. Yet in losing eight of persons series, including six in a row to the detested Boston Celtics, West became as legendary for his failures as for his triumphs. And that notoriety cast long shadows over West’s life on and off the court.
Yet as the leader learned through scores of exclusive interviews with West’s teammates, colleagues, and family tree members, West channeled the frustration of his darkest moments into a driving force that propelled his years as an executive. And in this capacity, the success that regularly eluded West on the court has enabled him to reach out to successive generations of players to enrich and shape the sport in immeasurable ways.
Though sometimes overshadowed by flashier peers on the court, Jerry West nevertheless stands out as the heart and soul of a league that, in fifty years, has metamorphosed from a regional sideshow into a global phenomenon. And in Jerry West, Roland Lazenby provides the essential tale of a man who has done more to shape basketball than anyone on the planet.
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Having been a Laker fan since the early 70’s, I couldn’t wait to read about my all-time favorite Laker. The leader does an brilliant job following the life and career of Jerry West. Starting with his childhood in the Depression, this is the time in his life where his “perfectionism” started. With hard work and the demands of his mother, Jerry would carry this burden through-out his entire life. Looking back over the years, Jerry said he had no thought why he played so hard except he was desperate to please his mother, to make up for the fantastic loss she had suffered due to the death of his brother, David. During his college years, Jerry encounters “Hot Rod Hundley”(from West Virginia and future Laker) and Oscar Robertson. The 60’s were especially hard due to the constant losing to the Boston Celtics. During the ‘72 season the Lakers finally hit pay-dirt with a World Championship and a record 33 game winning streak. After his career was over, Jerry would be the Lakers’ all-purpose manager and be involved with the organization he loved. I loved most of the book, but establish myself saddened with the fact of the underlining events that haunted this super-star. The demand for perfection is impossible to suffer yet essential to greatness, basketball’s select few—this is Jerry West. Jerry once said certain players, the elite, have a small extra “dust sprinkles” on them at birth—this is Jerry West. The image and character of Jerry West is what being a professional is all about. Maybe that is why Jerry’s silhouette is the logo for the NBA. Would also recommend Wilt: Larger Than Life and Chick: His Unpublished Life tale and the Memories of Persons Who Loved Him as companion reading.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Jerry West is one of the most vital facts in NBA history, and in this fantastic biography, Roland Lazenby chronicles the life of the man who led the Los Angeles Lakers to copious Finals appearances and NBA championships as a player and all-purpose manager.
The book starts by tracing West’s lineage to the eighteenth century, provides a plain picture of West’s childhood in mid-20th century West Virginia, and recalls many of the trials his family tree had at that time. The book describes how West learned the game of basketball, and traces his playing days at East Bank High, at West Virginia University, and on the 1960 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team.
West is most legendary for his playing career with the Lakers, and much of the book covers persons 14 seasons, including the inner workings of the Laker squad and West’s legendary playoff battles with the Boston Celtics. The leader discusses how the same perfectionism that caused West to work so hard at the game and achieve such success had its negative aspects.
Lazenby documents West’s post-playing days as a coach and all-purpose manager, and discloses some of the issues that led to West’s departure from the team in 2000. This very well-researched book is made even better by the many interviews the leader was able to take that yielded many fresh insights about West’s career. This volume would be loved by anyone keenly interested in NBA history.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
On rare occasions, the right person is at the right place in the right time to carry out an extraordinary task. When Roland Lazenby set out to write a biography on Jerry West, that was one of persons special moments.
For starters, Lazenby is one of the best sportswriters in the business. Of all the many books written about the Chicago Bulls period, his masterpiece “Blood on the Horns” sits above all the others (even yet to be of Sam Smith’s “The Jordan Rules.”) He also wrote THE book on the history of the Lakers franchise, “The Lakers” and then followed it up with the larger more impressive tome “The Show.” He’s one of the very few writers who doesn’t fall under the spell of basketball demigods, such as Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, and do their bidding. He does his homework and reports the facts and puts them out there.
Second, he’s a Lakers fan. I did not know this for some time, because he has written on many teams and written multiple books on the Bulls. Writing about what you like versus what you know has got to energize a writer, and you can see it here. To borrow a axiom quoted by persons linked with West, how can you NOT be jazzed to write about “Jerry F***ing West?” The man IS the Lakers. He played 14 years, coached 2 years, scouted for the team, and served in various front office roles, including All-purpose Manager for 20 years. He built the 1980s and the early 2000s period. This book radiates energy, and I imagine it was extremely hard to craft this out, balancing like and fairness, rounding out the character and keeping the tale pushing forwards while covering such an wide career.
The third reason has to do with West himself. The advantage of the autobiography is that the person telling the tale knows more about himself than anyone. When you read a biography about a fantastic person in history, there is a certain amount of guesswork, albeit educated. For instance, no one REALLY knows what George Washington was feeling during certain times. We can read his letters, but lacking talking to him directly, we don’t know the full truth. At the same time, the disadvantage of the autobiography is that people value themselves probably more highly than they ought. No one wants to look like the terrible guy or the screw up, so some points are glossed over or rationalized, even if it’s a case of the person convincing himself that this revised history is the truth. To see this point illustrated, read Pete Maravich’s autobiography “Heir to a Dream” and then read Mark Kriegel’s brilliant biography “Pistol.” An outside observer is regularly more cruelly honest about the theme than the theme. Besides this book and Kriegel’s the additional biography that really stands out is Robert Cherry’s biography about Wilt Chamberlain, “Wilt: Larger than Life.” The advantage Lazenby has over Cherry and Kriegel is that Jerry West is still alive, whereas Maravich and Chamberlain had passed away, so he was able to interview West himself. Furthermore, West is 71 years ancient, so he has a sense of perspective and is more likely to be honest looking back in retrospect to past relationships and performances, unlike a biography written about a 32 year ancient player in the prime of his career.
Finally, and probably most importantly, ex- Lakers All-purpose Manager Pete Newell said to know Jerry West, you have to know West, you have know West Virginia. Lazenby, a West Virginia native, understands West Virginia. He spends significant time explaining the background of West Virginia, including the settling and conflict dating back to the French and Indian War, along with the exploitation of the land, resources, and people by large mining corporations. And beyond understanding the land and the people of the state as a whole, Lazenby also sets the background to West’s upbringing. You have to know his parents to know why he is such a perfectionist. To know his parents, you have to know his grandparents. Lazenby goes into detail on this, along with some even more distant relatives. He spends three chapters setting up back tale before we even get to West playing basketball in high school. In doing so, you really get into the mind of West and although he is a hard man to know – namely his nervous energy, and inability to be sit back and take satisfaction in the fruit of his work – you still see WHY he is the way he is. And that is why this book is so special. Most books are more interested in the events rather than the “whys”. Lazenby answers both.
You also get to see West’s view on this relationships with key people in his career: Fred Schaus, Elgin Baylor, Jack Kent Cooke, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry Buss, and Phil Jackson.
The one question I permanently wondered was knowing West’s perfectionist attitude and his wont for reliving the failures to win the championship in 6 meetings with the Celtics (along with past failures in college) and subjecting himself to misery, when the Lakers finally won the title in 1972, West went through a shooting slump in the finals and talks finals. I permanently wondered how he dealt with winning the finals, yet performing at a sub-standard level. Had I met West, I would never have questioned him this. After all, when you stand before “Jerry F***ing West”, you are in the presence of royalty, so how could you do anything except heap praise? Yet Lazenby does take up this issue in detail – proving why he is one of the best at what he does. He’s a fan, yet he’s honest.
When I finished this book, I knew more about the theme matter than I did in any additional sports book, and probably more than any additional past character. This is not just a excellent sports book, this is a textbook example of how to write a biography. This can proudly take its place alongside David McCollough’s biography on John Adams and Edmund Morris’ “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” on the bookshelf, both of which won the Pulitzer Prize, but have nothing on this book. This is the best 3-dimensional analysis of a character in any biography I have come across, and I have read many: sports and non-sports.
I own and have read so many basketball books that I made a website for my books with book reviews. I rate my books from 1-5 stars. I have regularly wondered which 5-star rated book was the best, and I had never been able to pick one out that stood above the rest – until now. This book stands out so far above the rest, that I had to make a new rating: 6-stars. The master sports leader who made two previous brilliant works has made his magnum opus.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
It’s been over thirty-five years since all-time fantastic Jerry West retired from the NBA so it’s a daunting task to attempt his biography in a way that will seem fresh and meaningful to longtime Jerry West fans… but leader Roland Lazenby succeeded in just such a quest. The leader has done yeomen’s work in combining archival past articles, books and interviews… along with recent interviews with ex- teammates… associates… family tree members… and probably most impressive of all… ex- fiery members of competitive teams. I was raised to judge the greatest compliments a ballplayer could receive were from his peers… both teammates and competitors. An example of such haloed praise for West was proffered by Boston Celtic Tom Heinsohn who played… coached… or announced the six straight NBA championship series that West’s Lakers lost to the despised Celtics: “WEST AND (TEAMMATE ELGIN) BAYLOR WERE TWO OF THE FIVE GREATEST PLAYERS EVER.” Despite the fact that Jerry West finally got his elusive championship as a player by defeating the New York Knicks in 1972… a season that included *THE GREATEST CONSECUTIVE GAME WINNING STREAK BY ANY PROFESSIONAL TEAM IN ANY MAJOR SPORT IN HISTORY (33-STRAIGHT-GAMES)… Jerry’s career both in college as an All-American at West Virginia and as a FOURTEEN-TIME-ALL-STAR for the Los Angeles Lakers… will be remembered by Jerry… as well as by persons close to him… by the self-imposed anguish that was his daily life. He… like his Mother… was a perfectionist… and a single loss would nag at him inconsolably for months. It’s this festering self-doubt and loathing that led some close to him to observe that despite all he accomplished in his career “HE NEVER SEEMED TO FIND ANY JOY IN IT.” This self-imposed psychosis is probably the most incredible thing that a reader who is otherwise overly familiar with Jerry West’s accomplishments will take away from this book. Hot Rod Hundley who preceded Jerry as a West Virginia All-American… and also preceded West as a first round selection by the Lakers so aptly said: “WEST ACCOMPLISHED TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS I DID IN MY CAREER, BUT HE’S ABOUT A TENTH AS HAPPY AS I AM.”
There are plenty of unmatched statistics such as during the six NBA finals series against the Celtics in 1962,63,65,66,68, and 69… he averaged 31,29,34,35,32, and 38. In the 1964-65 six game Western Talks playoff series with the Bullets, “WEST AVERAGED 46.3 POINTS PER GAME, A RECORD THAT HAS WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF EVEN MICHAEL JORDAN’S BEST.” Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan wrote: “NO CELTIC OPPONENT HAS EVER HAD MORE FANS WISHING HE WOULD SWITCH UNIFORMS, AND THAT INCLUDES MICHAEL JORDAN.”
*JERRY WEST WAS NAMED THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER OF THE 1969 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES… THE ONLY TIME IN LEAGUE HISTORY THAT THE MVP CAME FROM THE LOSING TEAM!*
The reader will hear no holds barred comments from West regarding such luminaries as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jack Kent Cooke, Jerry Buss, Fred Schaus, Phil Jackson… and many others. You will learn… or be reminded that West is probably the most loved and respected player to ever come from the state of West Virginia… in fact the leader who is also from West Virginia says that his Father worshipped Jerry West. “I OFTEN TELL PEOPLE THAT THERE WERE TWO PICTURES ON THE WALL OF OUR HOME WHEN I WAS A BOY. ONE WAS OF JESUS. THE OTHER WAS OF JERRY WEST. THE PICTURE OF JESUS, I TELL PEOPLE, WAS HUNG HIGHER THAN THE PICTURE OF JERRY, BUT ONLY BY ABOUT AN INCH OR TWO.”
The only part of this book from my perspective that was not five star quality was approximately thirty-odd pages near the beginning of the book that went into the history of West Virginia as far back as the 1700’s. Perhaps I… like many additional potential readers was simply chomping at the bit to immediately get to the main theme… my childhood hero Jerry West. I grew up in Los Angeles while West was playing for the Lakers. I wore his number 44 on my high school team… my junior college team… and on my military team. I practiced day and night imitating Jerry’s unstoppable jump shot until mine was one and the same.
In my house… Jerry’s picture was privileged on the wall than any additional.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5