Mr. Clutch will be celebrated with a Clutch Player of the Year honor.
14-time Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Jerry West, who won a title and a Finals MVP with the Lakers (in separate Finals) as a player, and then six Lakers titles as an executive, will now be honored by the league beyond just being its logo.
The NBA announced today that it would rename several of its end-of-year awards in honor of some of its all-time greats. As you’ll recall, the Finals MVP trophy is already named after Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, who beat Jerry West in six Finals, and the All-Star Game MVP award is named after fallen Laker Kobe Bryant.
West is getting a whole new award: the Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year award, in tribute to his nickname “Mr. Clutch,” as bestowed upon him by legendary Lakers play-by-play broadcaster Chick Hearn. Is it weird to name an award for clutch-ness after a guy who lost eight Finals? Perhaps, but a lot of those series hinged on some unlucky moments, and the league was so enamored with the play of L.A. superstars West and Elgin Baylor that they were basically not faulted for their team’s failure.
Through 932 regular season contests, West holds career averages of 27 points on 47.4% shooting from the floor and 81.4% shooting from the charity stripe, 6.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds.
Two other, longstanding awards were retitled in tribute to some other Lakers. The Most Improved Player Award has been renamed after five-time Lakers champ George Mikan, whose No. 99 jersey was just retired this season. The Rookie of the Year honor will be named after former Laker Wilt Chamberlain, who was with the Philadelphia Warriors during his incredible rookie season, but would ultimately finish his career with the Lakers.
“Our new collection of trophies celebrates some of the greatest and most impactful players in the history of the NBA,” said league commissioner Adam Silver. “As we recognize the league’s top performers each season, we also pay tribute to the legends who embody these prestigious awards.”
