Jerry West racked up a laundry list of accomplishments during his storied playing career.
The Lakers legend had a particularly keen eye for the big game, regularly saving his best performances for the days when the lights were at their brightest. From West Virginia, where West racked up the NCAA tournament scoring record and brought the Mountaineers to an NCAA title game, to the Lakers, whom he helped lead to the 1972 NBA championship, West always appeared to have a flair for the dramatic.
He saved his most daring escapade for a losing effort. In 1969, West and Los Angeles faced off against a menacing Celtics side led by Bill Russell and John Havlicek. The series was a slugfest, with both teams jostling back-and-forth for supremacy. In the end, it was Boston who took home the hardware, vanquishing L.A. 4-3 to capture its 11th title in franchise history.
Despite strong performances from a host of Celtics stars, it was West who earned distinction as Finals MVP. With his award, he became the first — and to date, only — player on a losing side to receive the honor.
Here's a look back at West's performance during the series, another notch on the glimmering belt that was his Hall-of-Fame playing career.
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Jerry West 1969 NBA Finals Stats
West put on a show during the 1969 NBA Finals, leading both teams in points and assists per game while hitting 49 percent of his field goal attempts. West averaged an otherworldly 37.9 points per contest in the seven-game gauntlet. He added 4.7 rebounds and 7.4 assists on the side, outshining the likes of Havlicek (28.3/11.0/4.4), Russell (9.1/21.1/5.1), Sam Jones (18.7/3.6/2.3), Wilt Chamberlain (11.7/25.0/3.0) and Elgin Baylor (18.0/10.3/3.9) — all of whom are Hall-of-Famers.
West led five of the seven games in scoring, exploding for 53 points in Game 1, a 120-118 Lakers win. West is one of just seven players to score at least 50 points in a Finals game. He stands next to some of the NBA's most dominant giants, including his longtime teammate and friend Baylor:
| Rank | Player(s) | Points |
| 1 | Elgin Baylor | 61 |
| 2 | Rick Barry, Michael Jordan | 55 |
| 3 | Jerry West | 53 |
| 4 | LeBron James | 51 |
| 5 | Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bob Pettit | 50 |
It took Russell, Boston's player-coach at the time, two games before he opted to double-team West. By that point, the Lakers led 2-0 in the series, a seemingly insurmountable deficit for those in green, as no team had ever mounted a comeback after going down 2-0 in the Finals.
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Fueled by Russell's adjustment, which forced West to expend more energy, and the luck of the Irish — Sam Jones' flicked a game-winner beyond Chamberlain's outstretched grasp to give Boston a Game 4 win — the Celtics evened the series at two games apiece.
West continued to produce in the final three games of the series. However, in Game 5 — a decisive Lakers victory — West pulled his hamstring attempting to dive for a loose ball. He battled through Game 6 and Game 7, his strain cloaked in gauze. Nevertheless, L.A. wasn't able to recover, falling just short of an NBA championship. The Lakers fell 108-106 in Game 7, spoiling owner Jack Kent Cooke's plans for dropping "World Champion Lakers" balloons down The Forum's landscape.
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West, to his credit, did drop 42 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists.
— Hoop History (@H00PHISTORY) June 22, 2021Jerry West playing on a hamstring injury against the Boston Celtics Dynasty in the 1969 NBA Finals:
43.9 MPG
37.9 PPG
4.7 RPG
7.4 APG
49.0 FG%
83.9 FT%One 50+ point game
Four 40+ point games
The only player to ever win NBA FMVP on a losing team.pic.twitter.com/MaAxZZa2NO
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 12, 2024Jerry West in the 1969 Finals:
53 PTS | 3 REB | 10 AST
41 PTS | 3 REB | 8 AST
24 PTS | 1 REB | 6 AST
40 PTS | 6 REB | 4 AST
39 PTS | 3 REB | 9 AST
26 PTS | 4 REB | 3 AST
42 PTS | 13 REB | 12 ASTWon Finals MVP despite losing the series. pic.twitter.com/vp48qlaAYW
"Los Angeles has not won the championship, but Jerry West is a champion," Russell said, per NCAA.com.
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Here's a look at his per-game numbers during that legendary seven-game stretch:
- 37.9 points per game
- 4.7 rebounds per game
- 7.4 assists per game
- 49.0percent field goal shooting
- 83.9 percent free throw shooting
