The Los Angeles Lakers icon Jerry West, whose silhouette is depicted in the NBA logo, will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for the record third time, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
West was first inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1979, followed by his induction as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic team in 2010. Now, he will get a nod as a contributor for his work as a general manager and a consultant.
After finishing his NBA career in 1974, West went on to serve as a head coach and a scout for the Lakers. He became the franchise’s general manager ahead of the 1982–83 season and remained in the position until 2000. During his time as an executive, West helped build the Showtime Lakers, who won five NBA titles in the 1980s. He laid the foundation for the Lakers team that won the tree-peat between 2000 and 2002 by trading for Kobe Bryant, hiring Phil Jackson as a head coach, and signing Shaquille O’Neal as a free agent.
After taking a two-year break, West became a general manager for the Memphis Grizzlies. He held the position until 2007 and transformed the struggling Grizzlies franchise into a perennial playoff team while winning the NBA Executive of the Year Award in 2004.
West became a consultant for the Golden State Warriors in 2011 and played a significant part in building a team that won NBA titles in 2015 and 2017. He left the franchise in 2017 in order to take the same position with the Los Angeles Clippers.
