Mr. Clutch: The Jerry West Story

Jerry West is the greatest paradox--and probably the greatest player--in pro basketball today. He is, in the words of Bill Libby, "too short, too this, too frail, too easily hurt to be a star in the madcap mayhem that is professional basketball. He is too modest, too nervous, too moody to take charge of a team, to stand up under the pressure of this grueling game. A poor hillbilly kid who is authentically modest, 'sirs' strangers and is respectful even to sportswriters, he is a most unlikely athletic hero. Yet Jerry West is the undisputed hero of pro basketball. A winner even in the midst of defeat, he scored a record 556 points in 18 games during the 1968-69 NBA playoffs and won the coveted title of Most Valuable Player for the series. Her Jerry West tells how it all began. Born in Cheylan, West Virginia, in 1938, Jerry West was a skinny, lonely, awkward little boy who wanted to be an athlete, Success did not come easily to Jerry. But hard work and persistence paid off, and by the time he was a senior in High school, scores of colleges throughout the country were offering lucrative scholarships. His career at the University of West Virginia brought him a lovely wife and solid success as an All-American. In 1960, after playing on the U. S. Olympic team at the Games in Rome, he was drafted bythe Los Angeles Lakers. Today, the hillbilly kid is a veteran on nine years in the professional ranks, commending a $100,00 contract which he fulfills through last minute heroics that have brought him the nickname Mr. Clutch.