Today, in West Virginia, the blue skies are a little greyer, and the mountain peaks have sunken a little lower. The mountain state silently weeps as it mourns the passing of one of its most prominent sons.
The legendary Jerry West has died at the age of 86, but his legacy will live on forever.
Many headlines across the World Wide Web refer to West as an “NBA Legend”, which he is, but to the people of West Virginia, he is first and foremost a legend here at home.
West was born in Chelyan, West Virginia, less than 20 minutes south of the State Capital of Charleston on May 28, 1938. He was raised in Kanawha County, where he attended and graduated from East Bank High School, where he was a standout basketball player.
Being a standout basketball player didn’t end in high school for West, who went on to further his career at West Virginia University after more than 60 universities showed interest in him.
During his time at WVU West scored 2,309 points and 1,240 rebounds. He averaged 24.8 points per game and 13.3 rebounds. He holds 12 WVU all-time records and is widely considered to be the best basketball player in WVU history. West co-captained the U.S. men’s basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
West was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1st round of the 1960 NBA draft as the second overall pick. The Minneapolis Lakers would soon after move to Las Angeles. He had a stellar NBA career and is ranked 9th by NBA.com in its top 50 all-time leaders rankings.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones, and we are eternally grateful for the enormous pride that he brought to our great state.
CLICK HERE to read our in-depth article, Jerry West: From West Virginia Roots to NBA Legend
0 Comments