Tag: jerry west

#	Team	Player
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	Cleveland Cavaliers Portland Trail Blazers Buffalo Braves *Cincinnati Royals* *Atlanta Hawks* Seattle SuperSonics Houston Rockets *Golden State Warriors* *Baltimore Bullets* Boston Celtics	Austin Carr Sidney Wicks Elmore Smith *Ken Durrett* *George Trapp* Fred Brown Cliff Meely *Darnell Hillman+ Stan Love* Clarence Glover

Players

Date	Player	Team	Action	Destination	Stats
May 7, 1971	Jerry Lucas	San Francisco Warriors	Traded	New York Knicks	(19.2p/15.8r/3.7a)
October 18, 1971	Archie Clark	*Philadelphia 76ers*	Traded	*Baltimore Bullets*	(21.3p/4.8r/5.4a)
November 5, 1971	Elgin Baylor	Los Angeles Lakers	*Retired*		(11.8p/6.3r/2.0a)
November 10, 1971	*Earl Monroe*	*Baltimore Bullets*	Traded	New York Knicks	*(21.7p/2.7r/3.3a)*
March 14, 1972	Charlie Scott	Virginia Squires (ABA)	Signed	Boston Celtics	(34.6p/5.1r/4.8a)
March 14, 1972	Charlie Scott	Boston Celtics	Traded	Phoenix Suns
March 14, 1972	Paul Silas	Phoenix Suns	Traded	Boston Celtics	(17.5p/11.9r/4.3a)

Other Personnel

Date	Person	Team	Action	Stats
*May 14, 1971*	Coach Tex Winter	Houston Rockets	*Hired*	Record: n/a
*June 3, 1971*	Coach Joe Mullaney	Los Angeles Lakers	*Fired*	Record: 48-34
*July 12, 1971*	Coach Bill Sharman	Los Angeles Lakers	*Hired*	Record: n/a
*October 13, 1971*	Coach Dolph Schayes	Buffalo Braves	*Fired*	Record: 0-1
*October 13, 1971*	Coach Johnny McCarthy	Buffalo Braves	*Hired*	Record: n/a
*November 1, 1971*	*Coach Butch Van Breda Kolff*	Detroit Pistons	Resigned	Record: 6-4
*November 1, 1971*	*Coach Terry Dischinger*	Detroit Pistons	*Appointed (Interim)*	Record: *0-2*
*November 3, 1971*	*Coach Earl Lloyd*	Detroit Pistons	*Hired*	Record: *20-50*
*February 2, 1972*	*Coach Rolland Todd*	Portland Trail Blazers	Fired	*Record: 12-44*
*February 3, 1972*	*Coach* Stu Inman	Portland Trail Blazers	*Appointed (Interim)*	*Record: 6-20*
*March 26, 1972*	*Coach* Jack Ramsay	Philadelphia 76ers	Resigned	Record: 30-52
*March 27, 1972*	Coach Johnny McCarthy	Buffalo Braves	*Fired*	Record: 22-59
*April 2, 1972*	P.coach Lenny Wilkens	Seattle SuperSonics	Resigned	Record: 47-35
*April 3, 1972*	*Coach Jack McCloskey*	Portland Trail Blazers	*Hired*	*Record: n/a*
*April 6, 1972*	Coach Jack Ramsay	Buffalo Braves	*Hired*	Record: n/a
*April 20, 1972*	Coach Tom Nissalke	Seattle SuperSonics	*Hired*	Record: n/a
*April 24, 1972*	Coach Richie Guerin	Atlanta Hawks	Reassigned	Record: 36-46

Retirements

Player	Team(s)	Notable Accomplishments
*Bailey Howell*	Detroit Pistons Baltimore Bullets Boston Celtics Philadelphia 76ers	2x Champion 1x All-NBA 6x All-Star
*Adrian Smith* (jumped to ABA)	Cincinnati Royals San Francisco Warriors	1x All-Star 1x All-Star Game MVP

League Leaders

If a stat is not listed, it was not recorded at the time. As time goes on, this section will begin to include steals per game, blocks per game, etc.

Key

PPG – points per game
RPG – rebounds per game
APG – assists per game
FG% – field goal percentage (percentage of shots that hit)
FT% – free throw percentage (percentage of foul shots that hit)

Stat	Leaders
*PPG*	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (34.8) Tiny Archibald (28.2) John Havlicek (27.5) Spencer Haywood (26.2) Gail Goodrich (25.9)
*RPG*	Wilt Chamberlain (19.2) Wes Unseld (17.6) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (16.6) Nate Thurmond (16.1) Dave Cowens (15.2)
*APG*	*Jerry West (9.7)* *Lenny Wilkens (9.6)* Tiny Archibald (9.2) *Archie Clark (8.0)* *John Havlicek (7.5)*
*FG%*	*Wilt Chamberlain (64%)* *Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (57%)* *Walt Bellamy (54%)* *Dick Snyder (52%)* *Jerry Lucas (51%)*
*FT%*	Jack Marin (89%) Calvin Murphy (89%) Gail Goodrich (85%) Chet Walker (84%) Dick Van Arsdale (84%)

Playoffs

Semifinals

East / Boston Celtics beat Atlanta Hawks, 4-2

For the first time since moving to Atlanta, the Hawks had to play their historic rival Boston Celtics. After an expected Celtics win in Game 1, a duel between star forwards ensued. Boston’s John Havlicek finished with forty-three points, and Atlanta’s Lou Hudson got forty-one of his own. The Hawks managed a solid road win, only to get blown out on their turf a couple nights later – despite the loss, Pete Maravich posted a glamorous 37/9/6 statline.

After winning by a mere two points in Game 4 – thanks to another Maravich effort – the Hawks ventured back up north. They ended up losing to the Celtics in back-to-back matches, with Boston’s Dave Cowens closing out with twenty-six points and twenty rebounds.

East / New York Knicks beat Baltimore Bullets, 4-2

For the fourth year in a row, New York and Baltimore met in the post-season. The Knicks were still without Willis Reed, so the outcome was relatively unpredictable.

The Bullets opened up with a surprising overtime victory, riding off Archie Clark’s thirty-eight points. Regression to the mean did occur, though, as the Knicks won by twenty-two in the next match behind a near-triple-double from Walt Frazier. Clark once again took over in Game 3 as the Bullets won by a single point, taking an unexpected 2-1 lead.

Their efforts ended up being pointless as New York responded with three consecutive wins, largely dependent on Frazier and Jerry Lucas’ abilities. Clark was bad in Games 4 and 5, and his thirty-one point bounce back in the decisive sixth was not enough to stave off elimination.

West / Los Angeles Lakers beat Chicago Bulls, 4-0

After a fierce series between these two teams that went to seven games, they were slated for another head-to-head. The difference this time around was a healthy Jerry West – after averaging thirty points and ten assists in the two Lakers home games, it was safe to say his impact was immediate. Goodrich was a human flamethrower, and Chicago couldn’t be efficient for their lives – even proven playoff performer Bob Love had a horrible outing.

Wilt Chamberlain was two points and assists short of a triple-double in Game 4, which was the final nail in the coffin for the Bulls. They suffered a sweep at the hands of the historic Lakers squad, still yet to win a playoff series.

West / Milwaukee Bucks beat Golden State Warriors, 4-1

Last time these teams met, Milwaukee completed a comfortable gentleman’s sweep. It was predicted that the fight would be tougher now that the Warriors had leveled up a bit – they were a fifty-win team whose star was arguably having his most impactful season to date.

Shock infested Bucks fans when Golden State managed to win Game 1 in Milwaukee Arena, with four of their players scoring twenty or more points. Nate Thurmond also grabbed twenty boards and dished nine assists.

Milwaukee tightened up with a statement blowout win afterwards, with only Thurmond managing a good performance. This would become the theme of the series – Thurmond’s sheer authority on both ends of the ball was wasted by pathetic play from his supporting cast, and they could not take advantage of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s awful efficiency. Respect to Jim Barnett for his ferocity, though – he played very well in Games 4 and 5.

Ultimately, the Bucks handled business with three straight cushioned victories.

Conference Finals

East / New York Knicks beat Boston Celtics, 4-1

For the first time this decade, the Knicks didn’t seem like clear favorites in the East. They finished with a worse regular season record than the Celtics and lacked one of their stars.

This matchup was proof that veteran experience goes a long way, though. New York won by a disrespectful twenty-two-point margin in Game 1, humiliating fans of the green team. They had six double-digit scorers in this game, while the Celtics’ only members of that club were John Havlicek and Jo Jo White – both of whom were very inefficient.

Despite fifty-two combined points from Havlicek and White the next match, the Knicks won by a narrow one-point margin. Taking both of the first two games was huge for them, and left the Celtics largely demoralized moving forward. Regardless, they fought through adversity – Game 3 at home was theirs. In response, New York provided a beating to keep Boston’s optimism at a low.

In Game 5, three Knicks finished with double digit rebounds as they completed a gentleman’s sweep. This sent them to their second Finals appearance in three years, slated to face one of the last two Western Conference champions.

West / Los Angeles Lakers beat Milwaukee Bucks, 4-2

In a rematch of last year’s Conference Finals, the brewing rivalry between Los Angeles and Milwaukee continued. The Lakers looked like the greater team this year, but the Bucks were defending a title – all that could be expected from this series was determination from both clubs.

The classic matchup between Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar favored the latter in the first game, as the back-to-back M.V.P. dropped thirty-three points and secured eighteen rebounds in a Bucks blowout win on the road. After the Lakers’ Happy Hairston secured a series tie with his game-winning bucket, matters were headed to Milwaukee. And considering the Bucks managed a dominant victory – and proceeded to lose by only one point – it wasn’t absurd to say momentum was in their favor.

A quality scoring effort from L.A.’s starting lineup brought them up 2-1 a couple nights later, only to lose by twenty-six points shortly after. Every single Bucks win was in crude fashion, and Los Angeles would have to raise their intensity if they wanted to dethrone their opponent.

Thanks to sixty-nine combined points from Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, and Jim McMillian in Game 5, the Lakers completed their first blowout win of the series at home. Fatigue seemed to plague Milwaukee as the series progressed – Oscar Robertson only logged nine points in twenty-nine minutes, and Abdul-Jabbar was taking an ill-advised number of shots in every game.

With a chance to tie the series at home, the Bucks collapsed in the fourth quarter and accepted defeat at the hands of their foe. They could not sustain quality play, being littered with injuries – Robertson and Wali Jones both had pulled muscles, and Jon McGlocklin was dealing with a nagging back injury. Couple that with a rare dominant offensive performance from Chamberlain – as well as necessary support from the Lakers’ other starters – and yet another Finals trip for the Californian team was in the books.

Finals

Los Angeles Lakers *beat* *New York Knicks, 4-1***
In the sixties, the narrative was Lakers vs. Celtics. Now, Lakers vs. Knicks seemed to be the uprising cross-country clash – this was their second Finals meeting in the last three years. Los Angeles looked to avenge their disappointing loss in 1970, where they went out in embarrassing fashion to a rallying New York squad. New York surprisingly managed to win the first game against the odds, similar to their series with Boston. Walt Frazier’s triple-double harmonized with Bill Bradley’s effective twenty-nine points, while just about everybody on the Lakers was terrible. The sixty-nine-win team shut out the noise shortly after, thanks to great performances from Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich. The former began to take advantage of New York’s shallow rim protection as the series continued, and his increased aggression made up for how poorly Jerry West was playing. Game 4 was an overtime battle – while West got to the line at every opportunity, Jerry Lucas and Walt Frazier could not be contained. The Knicks still lost regardless, now down 3-1 on their way back to the west coast. The Lakers were now closer than ever to their first championship in nearly twenty years, and seized the opportunity without a thought. Four of the five starters scored over twenty points, and Chamberlain got twenty-nine rebounds. They convincingly pulled away in the second half, completing the gentleman’s sweep – this was the Lakers’ long-awaited first title since moving to Los Angeles, and first since the great dynasties of Minneapolis. The Jerry West era had finally produced a ring.
*The* Los Angeles Lakers win the 1972 NBA championship! Wilt Chamberlain *was named the Finals Most Valuable Player.*

Awards

Notes
Name(s) under the “All-Stars” section with an asterisk (*) were listed as the MVP of the All-Star Game that year. Those with “(IR)” next to their name were chosen to replace an injured star.

Major Awards

Rookie of the Year	MVP	Finals MVP	Coach of the Year
Sidney Wicks	*Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	Wilt Chamberlain	Bill Sharman

All-NBA

All-NBA First Team	All-NBA Second Team
*Walt Frazier* Jerry West John Havlicek Spencer Haywood Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Tiny Archibald Archie Clark Billy Cunningham Bob Love Wilt Chamberlain

All-Defensive

All-Defensive First Team	All-Defensive Second Team
*Walt Frazier* Jerry West Jerry Sloan John Havlicek *Dave DeBusschere* *Wilt Chamberlain*	Norm Van Lier Don Chaney Paul Silas Bob Love *Nate Thurmond*

All-Stars

Eastern All-Stars	Western All-Stars
Butch Beard Archie Clark Dave Cowens *Billy Cunningham* *Dave DeBusschere* *Walt Frazier* *John Havlicek* Lou Hudson John Johnson Bob Kauffman Jack Marin Wes Unseld *Tom Van Arsdale* *Jo Jo White*	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain Gail Goodrich *Connie Hawkins* Elvin Hayes Spencer Haywood Bob Lanier Bob Love Oscar Robertson Cazzie Russell Paul Silas Jimmy Walker *Jerry West Sidney Wicks**
*West beats East, 112-110*

All-Rookie

All-Rookie Team
Austin Carr Phil Chenier Clifford Ray Elmore Smith Sidney Wicks