After a lengthy absence, the profiles are back! And this week, we pay homage to the NBA Finals with posts devoted to great Lakers and Magic players. Today's profilee was one of the greatest NBA players of the 1960s and early 1970s, winning a scoring title, making twelve All-Star teams, and helping L.A. win the 1972 NBA title. He is Jerry West.

Jerry West was born May 28, 1938 in Cheylan, West Virginia. The young West lived in poverty, but he developed a passion for basketball, and starred for East Bank High School, making the All-State team from 1953-56 and was named the state player of the year and an All-American in 1956. After graduating, West chose to attend West Virginia University and put the school on the basketball map, leading the team to the NCAA finals in 1959, earning two Southern Conference player of the year awards and two All-America honors. After leading the United States to a gold medal (co-captaining the team with Oscar Robertson) in the 1960 Rome Olympics, West was drafted second overall behind Robertson by the Lakers, shortly before the franchise moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles.

As a rookie, West was solid after Fred Schaus (his coach at West Virginia) moved him from forward to guard, averaging 17.6 PPG and 7.7 RPG as the Lakers made the playoffs. Soon after, he and Elgin Baylor became one of the league's most dominant scoring duos; both averaged 30+ PPG in 1961-62 (West's second year) and would average over 24 PPG in ten of twelve full seasons together. In 1961-62, they made the first of six NBA Finals in the decade, but the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in seven games, starting a trend that would continue throughout the decade.

Despite coming up short against Boston, West remained brilliant for the team throughout the 1960s. West averaged over 25.9 PPG each year from 1961-62 to 1970-71, and earned the first of 13 selections to the All-Star team as a rookie in 1961 (he played in 12 games from 1961-73, missing the 1969 game, and was game MVP in 1972). West's best stats year came in 1969-70, when he won his only scoring title (the first year it was awarded on per game average) with 31.2 PPG, along with 4.6 RPG and 7.5 APG. Despite his individual success, the Lakers lost five NBA Finals in the 60s, all to the Celtics, though West was outstanding in their last matchup in 1969, scoring 42 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and dishing out 12 assists in the Lakers' game seven matchup, becoming the only player in NBA history to claim Finals MVP without winning the title (in fact, West was the first-ever Finals MVP). After the Lakers lost to the New York Knicks in the 1970 Finals, many felt the Lakers' best days were over.

In 1971-72, however, the Lakers united under new coach Bill Sharman, and even with Baylor retiring early in the season, they roared, winning a then-record 69 games, as West finished seventh in scoring (25.8 PPG) and led the league in assists (9.7 APG), as L.A. finally got the brass ring that year, beating the Knicks in five games for their first L.A. title (and first for the team since 1954). With the burden lifted from his shoulders, West played two more seasons, making another Finals appearence, before retiring in 1974. West then briefly coached the team from 1976-79 before jumping into the front office, building the Showtime Lakers into a power in the 1980s, winning five NBA titles. West also built the early 2000s Lakers of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant that won three straight titles from 2000-02 before joining the Memphis Grizzlies, where from 2002-07, West built the team into a playoff team, making three postseasons on a team that hadn't made any prior to his arrival. He retired from that capacity in 2007. For his playing career, he scored 25,192 points (27.0 PPG career; 14th all-time after the 2008-09 season) and had 5.376 rebounds (5.8 RPG), was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1960-61: 79 GP, 17.6 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 4.2 APG, 41.9 FG%, 66.6 FT%
1961-62: 75 GP, 30.8 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 5.4 APG, 44.5 FG%, 76.9 FT%
1962-63: 55 GP, 27.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 5.6 APG, 46.1 FG%, 77.8 FT%
1963-64: 72 GP, 28.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.6 APG, 48.4 FG%, 83.2 FT%
1964-65: 74 GP, 31.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.9 APG, 49.7 FG%, 82.1 FT%
1965-66: 79 GP, 31.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 6.1 APG, 47.3 FG%, 86.0 FT%
1966-67: 66 GP, 28.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 6.8 APG, 46.4 FG%, 87.8 FT%
1967-68: 51 GP, 26.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 6.1 APG, 51.4 FG%, 81.1 FT%
1968-69: 61 GP, 25.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 6.9 APG, 47.1 FG%, 82.1 FT%
1969-70: 74 GP, 31.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 7.5 APG, 49.7 FG%, 82.4 FT%
1970-71: 69 GP, 26.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 9.5 APG, 49.4 FG%, 83.2 FT%
1971-72: 77 GP, 25.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 9.7 APG, 47.7 FG%, 81.4 FT%
1972-73: 69 GP, 22.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 8.8 APG, 47.9 FG%, 80.5 FT%
1973-74: 31 GP, 20.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 6.6 APG, 44.7 FG%, 83.3 FT%

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