Jerry Alan West is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. West has also had a successful career as a coach and as an executive. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and his left-handed dribbling silhouette has long been used in the National Basketball Association's official logo.

West was a standout in high school and at college, attending West Virginia University and leading it to the 1959 NCAA championship game before embarking on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also played for, and co-captained with Oscar Robertson, the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome.