Lakers To Pay Tribute To This NBA Great During 2024-25 Season

In the past, the NBA has been quick to honor the legacy of former players with jersey retirements and Hall-of-Fame inductions. There’s also the patches on a team’s jerseys, which are usually reserved for the remembrance of players who have passed away. 

The whole league did it to honor Bill Russell after he passed away in 2022, with teams wearing a number 6 patch on their jerseys. The Lakers did the same in honoring Kobe Bryant after his death in 2020, as they included a “KB” patch on their jersey

This season, the Lakers plan to celebrate another player. According to a Sept. 10 post on the team’s social media accounts, this time, it will be Hall-of-Famer Jerry West, who famously wore number 44 for Los Angeles for the 14 seasons in which he played for the organization. 

West passed away on June 12 at the age of 86. He played a big role in the Lakers’ 1972 NBA Finals run, when Los Angeles was finally able to reach the mountaintop in an otherwise Celtics-dominated era in the NBA. West has long been the inspiration behind the NBA logo, as the league has used his silhouette as its inspiration since 1969. West is also still the only player from a runner-up team to win the Finals MVP award, a feat he also accomplished in 1969. 

West was one of the most prolific players of his time, but his career as an executive following his playing days may just have surpassed anything he did on the court. 

During his career as an executive, West won eight championships. In the years after his career and even as recently as early this year, he spent time with the Lakers, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers. West was even the coach of his former team for three seasons before moving into an executive position.  

Given all of West’s accomplishments, it is therefore fitting, then, that the purple and gold are choosing to honor West in this way, with a number 44 patch included on their jerseys for this upcoming campaign. 

Lakers To Officially Celebrate Jerry West In October 

In addition to the number 44 jersey patches, the Lakers will honor West before their season opener against the Western Conference Final runners-up Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 26. 

West was not an executive with the Lakers during their most recent championship run in 2020, but he has had a hand in seven of the franchise’s 17 NBA championships, making him one of the most successful figures in the team’s history. 

The closest the Lakers have been to a championship since that pandemic run was during the 2022-23 season, when Los Angeles was ultimately defeated in four games by the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. Last season, the Nuggets spoiled their playoff run for the second-straight year, this time, however, in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. 

As for this upcoming season, with LeBron James’ Hall-of-Fame career moving closer and closer to the finish line, the Lakers have a tall task in front of them if they want to compete for an 18th Larry O’Brien trophy. 

The Western Conference is as stacked with title contenders as it’s ever been with teams like the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns all ready to make an attempt at dethroning the Celtics. 

Regardless of what the Lakers are able to accomplish this season record-wise or in the postseason, however, West’s legacy will live on each and every night Los Angeles suits up this year.