Perspective | The NBA has never had an influencer quite like Jerry West

Watson, just 23 and trying to develop his game, had signed with Memphis because of West. And there they were, in a nondescript gym, representing a nondescript franchise, working through the subtleties of a jump shot. West grabbed a basketball and stood with Watson two feet from the hoop and used only his right hand to shoot. Everything was meticulous: elbow placement, the way he held the ball in his fingertips, the release, the follow-through. West would take several shots and give the ball to Watson. Then they would make a correction and shoot again. Then they would move back a step. They didn’t take a shot beyond about eight feet. It was a simple 30-minute instruction, but it was enthralling to witness West — whose longevity as an influential figure is unrivaled in basketball history — operate with so much care.

The Grizzlies had been in Memphis for one season after relocating from Vancouver. In its first seven seasons, the franchise had a 124-418 record, a .229 winning percentage. But now the Grizzlies had West, the legendary Los Angeles Lakers icon and executive who also coached for a few seasons. And even though he was featured more than the players in promotions throughout Memphis, he was still the humble perfectionist from Chelyan, W.Va., who just wanted to do right by the game.

The sport celebrates his blessed life now. West died at 86 on Wednesday, on the morning before Game 3 of the NBA Finals. There is a particular poignancy to losing him during this event. It is the only thing he couldn’t master as a player. He won one championship in nine Finals appearances. Six of those eight losses came to the indomitable Boston Celtics. His professional playing career, which lasted from 1960 to 1974, was a mélange of excellence, misery and doggedness. There was almost a valor to his determination because he had to battle the darkness within him to keep going. The title of his memoir captured him best: “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life.”

In that book, West worked with author Jonathan Coleman to write an unsparing and honest self-examination. In his candor, you could feel his torture. You understood his genius, too. West was so aware of his flaws yet resolute about improvement. He kept getting up, whether it was to face the Celtics again — or himself.

He learned hard lessons about the limitations of individual greatness. In 1969, he was the Finals MVP, but the Lakers lost to the Celtics in seven games. He remains the only player to be the Finals MVP in a losing effort. West was awarded a car for his performance. It was a green Dodge Charger. It resembled the color of the Celtics’ road jerseys.

In an old interview, he wore a dark suit and answered a few questions in front of the car as he accepted the MVP gift. Of the loss, he said, “I know that it’s going to be particularly hard for me to understand this summer.”

In his book, he wrote of that summer: “I was lost, and I was depressed. Wherever I went, I had a hard time making eye contact with people.”

In 1969, the NBA also hired a branding agency to design a new logo that it still uses. It’s a silhouette of West dribbling. The league has always been coy about that fact, but it’s an open secret. Typical West — he was uncomfortable being the inspiration for one of the most recognizable emblems in sports.

“It almost feels like I have to apologize for that symbol,” he once said. “It’s not fun.”

When West finally broke through and helped the Lakers secure the 1972 NBA title, he struggled with his shooting, but that team — which finished 69-13 in the regular season and set a record with 33 straight victories — was too balanced to be denied. A champion for the first time, he still spent that offseason in deep thought.

“It was particularly frustrating because I was playing so poorly that the team overcame me,” West said later. “Maybe that’s what a team is all about.”

That’s West: conflicted, humbled but never tired. He took a lesson from every triumph and setback. West arrived in the NBA 14 years into the league’s existence, and for the past 64 years, no one has had a more thorough impact on the sport. He’s widely acclaimed as one of the top 20 players in history, and because he ended up influencing so many franchises, he is without peer as an executive. He sustained the “Showtime” Lakers and possessed the vision to pair Shaquille O’Neal with Kobe Bryant. In Memphis, he convinced a 69-year-old Hubie Brown to return to coaching after a 15-year absence to teach the Grizzlies how to win. In 2011, West came out of retirement to serve as an executive board member for Golden State and help the Warriors craft their dynasty. Since 2017, he had served in a similar role for owner Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers, and while the Clippers have yet to play for a championship, they’ve forged a reputation as a sustainable contender.

As an executive, West contributed to eight championships. It just happens to be the same number of times that the Lakers finished as a runner-up during his playing days. But for as much as we measure West by championships won and lost, he should be remembered as a scrupulous basketball savant who was concerned with every little thing, from a young backup point guard’s shooting to the finest points of player evaluation. He was known for drafting and recruiting big stars, but even if you get granular about his track record as a GM, you realize he shot a preposterously high percentage on all of his decisions.

No one has ever seen the game as clearly — from so many angles and across so many different eras — as West did. We must hope that, amid all his self-abuse and modesty, West realized the soaring influence he had on his profession.

“Connie, my wife, called him my ‘basketball dad,’ ” Ballmer said in a statement. “He was absolutely my basketball sage: wise, loyal and so much fun. If you were in his presence, you felt his competitiveness and his drive. He cared about everything and everyone. From the first day I met Jerry seven years ago, he inspired me with his intellect, honesty and enthusiasm. He never stopped. I spent a lot of time with him, some of the best times of my life.”

With the Celtics leading the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals, perhaps West didn’t want to risk seeing his old rivals win title No. 18 and break a tie with the Lakers for the most in league history. He gets to rest now — tormented no more, charmed forever.