Some thoughts on Jerry West and Bob Harris

R.I.P

I woke up this morning with the news that Jerry West had died. He was 86, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise. But he just seemed like Ole Man River, just rolling on forever.

Of course he will live on as The Logo, the iconic NBA emblem that used his outline.

But trust me, Jerry West could play. He was an absolute monster on the court.

He had no weaknesses. There was no 3-point shot in those days but he shot 47% from the field (as a guard) and 81% from the line over a 14-year NBA career. He averaged at least 25.8 points per game for 11 consecutive seasons. He led the NBA with 9.7 assists per game in 1972 and was a very good rebounder for his 6-3 size.

And he was an elite defender. The NBA didn’t start tracking steals until West’s final season but he averaged 2.6 per game at age 35. West was first-team All-NBA 10 times and dropped to second team twice only because of injuries.

West wasn’t The Logo during those days. He was Mr. Clutch. Use your search engine of choice to find that 60-foot buzzer beater against the Knicks in the 1970s finals.

The Lakers have had some great duos over the years. Kareem and Magic. Kobe and Shaq. LeBron and AD. No last names needed.

But I’m not sure they ever had a combo better than West and Elgin Baylor. They could do anything on a basketball court.

Except beat Bill Russell and the Celtics. West came up against the Celtics six times in the finals during the 1960s and came away with zero titles.  

West finally got his title in 1972, when the Lakers beat the Knicks for the title after going 69-13 in the regular season, Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich helping West win that elusive ring.

But Baylor had retired earlier that season, his knees ravaged. He never got that title.

West, Baylor, Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson and Bob Pettit led a group of superstars who jump-started the NBA from a bus-ride league in the 1950s to a full fledged major league during the 1960s. We hear a lot about Magic and Bird saving the NBA in the 1980s but without these 1960s pioneers, there’s nothing to save.

West averaged 20.3 points and 6.6 assists per game in 1973-’74. He wasn’t exactly washed up.

He was playing at a comparable level in the fall 1974 preseason. But he retired, saying he was still good but not Jerry West good.

One thing distinguishes West from those other 1960s superstars I mentioned; a Duke connection.

Before starring for the Lakers, West starred for West Virginia. Remember Duke and West Virginia were in the Southern Conference prior to the establishment of the ACC in 1953. West Virginia--and Virginia Tech-lobbied hard to become the eighth member of the league but this was before the interstate highway system and getting there and back was not fun, especially on a snowy January evening; Virginia became the eighth school.

Still, Duke and West Virginia had a hoops rivalry. West Virginia was very good during this era. Mark Workman in the early 1950s (along with Dick Groat) and flashy Hot Rod Hundley later that decade were All-Americans. Hundley’s 25 points led West Virginia to an 83-82 win over Duke in December 1956 in the title game of something called the Birmingham Classic.

Hundley graduated following that ‘56-’57 season but sophomore West joined the team the following season, “Zeke from Cabin Creek.”

West Virginia won its first 14 games and came to Duke ranked number one in the country.

Harold Bradley was Duke’s coach that year and he had one of the more interesting teams in Duke history. The Blue Devils started five seniors, each of whom averaged between 10.6 and 13.2 points per game. Maybe not the most talented team in Duke history but for balance and experience, hard to top. Duke would finish first in the ACC regular season but end their season at 18-7 with an ACC Tournament loss to Maryland.

The Mountaineers journeyed to Duke on January 27 with a 14-0 record and left with a 14-1 record.  West scored 20 points, with 14 rebounds. But Duke held 6-11 star Lloyd Sharrar to nine points. Jim Newcome matched West with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while Bob Vernon added 18 points.

The final was 72-68. This was the first time Duke defeated a number one team, the first time any ACC team knocked off the top-ranked team.

West led West Virginia to the 1959 NCAA title game, where they lost to California 71-70. West led everyone with 28 points and 11 rebounds. But time ran out on WVU’s comeback attempt.

Duke and West almost squared off again. Vic Bubas’ first Duke team won the 1960 ACC Tournament and followed with a win over Princeton, Duke’s first ever NCAA Tournament win. That left Duke versus St. Joseph’s in one eastern semifinal, West Virginia and NYU in the other, the ACC champion and the Southern Conference champion poised to meet for the East Region title.

Duke defeated St. Joe’s. But NYU upset WVU 82-81 in overtime. West had 34 points and 16 rebounds but was matched by NYU’s Tom “Satch” Sanders’ 28 points and 19 rebounds.

Sanders was equally dominant as NYU beat Duke 74-59 to advance to the Final Four.

Sanders went on to start for the Celtics, further tormenting West for another decade or so.

West did go on to win a gold medal for the U.S. in the 1960 Rome Olympics.

West was a complicated individual. After his playing days ended he became a very successful executive, mostly for the Lakers. But he also wrote candidly about his struggles with anxiety and depression, blaming himself for every game his team lost, every game, every season, every level.  

He loved the game more than the game loved him back.

I was a fan.

I had barely begun processing the news of West’s death when I learned of the passing of Bob Harris. Bob had been in declining health for several years, so it was no surprise.

But still a shock. Bob and I were members of the board of directors for the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame for many years, so I got to know him well.

Bob was exactly what you think he was. Never met a stranger, gregarious, out-going, extrovert. You get my drift. It seems like everyone had a Bob Harris story and they were all good.

Bob used his name recognition for good. If a worthy charity needed a hand, needed a name, needed a boost, Bob Harris was there.

Bob attended NC State and grew up not far from Woody Durham. He had a big handshake and a kind word for fans of all stripes.

But he’s best known as the Voice of the Blue Devils, for over four decades. He replaced a legend in Add Penfield and became a legend himself. He was a mentor to dozens of broadcasting newbies. Generous was his default mode. The awards came. Halls of Fames, broadcaster of the year.

Remember he started at Duke in the mid-1970s, before ESPN, long before Duke was a mainstay on TV. One followed Duke football and basketball by listening to Bob Harris on the radio. He was there when Bill Foster resurrected the hoops program, when Steve Spurrier kicked Clemson’s derriere, when Mike Krzyzewski went from Coach Who to the G.O.A.T, chronicling it all in his inimitable voice and style.

I never met Jerry West but I very much suspect Bob Harris did. Because Bob’s figurative Rolodex must have been as big as anyone in the world of sports.

Not many deaths are sweet. But some lives are. Bob’s life? How sweet it was.