West was a sharpshooter from long range He retired with 25 192 career points Only 20 players had scored more through the 2013 14 season And many of them played after 1979 80 That was the first year the NBA had a three point line West was also great at the free throw line He made 7 160 foul shots That ranked sixth all time through 2013 14 The Lakers always wanted the ball in West's hands late in games Perhaps his most famous shot came in a loss It was Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals The Lakers trailed the New York The number of free Knicks by two points Only throws Jerry West made seconds remained That in 1965 66 an NBA record through 2014 is when West threw up a desperate shot from his own foul line Shockingly the ball swished through the hoop on the other end of the court These days the shot would have scored three points Alas West's shot only counted for two The Lakers lost in overtime 840
Lakers guard Jerry West sets up a shot against the New York Knicks during the 1973 NBA Finals JERRY WEST Position Guard Hometown Chelyan West Virginia College West Virginia University Height Weight 6 feet 2 175 pounds Birth Date May 28 1938 Team Los Angeles Lakers 1960 74 All Star Games 14 1961 74 First Team All NBA 1961 62 1962 63 1963 64 1964 65 1965 66 1966 67 1969 70 1970 71 1971 72 1972 73
KAREEM ABDUL JABBAR Some shots are hard to defend But Kareem Abdul Jabbar's signature skyhook was nearly impossible to defend The center stood 7 feet 2 inches tall He released his one handed hook shot high above his head Blocking it was out of the question Abdul Jabbar was born as Lew Alcindor He changed his name in 1971 when he converted to Islam The big center was one of basketball's most dominant players for more than two decades And the skyhook was a big reason for that The University of California Los Angeles UCLA won three national titles during his time there Abdul Jabbar later won six NBA titles over 20 seasons He was also still the NBA's all time scoring leader through 2014 10 When center Kareem Abdul Jabbar set up a skyhook it usually lakers meant two points for his Los Angeles
