West Fans Left Clutching for Words

I have two letters I would like you to print:

Dear Jerry West,

Thank you for all of the wonderful years as player, coach and GM. Boy, it was great watching you fleece all the other GMs in the league. Good luck in your new job!

Dear Mitch Kupchak,

You now have a new primary rule as Laker GM. Please repeat after me: I will not make any trades with the Grizzlies. I will not make any trades with the Grizzlies!

Eric Monson

Temecula

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My favorite Jerry West moment occurred 36 years ago, when West was a player and I was 9 years old and living in Pomona. Two friends and I rode our bikes to a store to see West and ask him to sign our basketballs. We arrived a few minutes late and we were told he had just left.

Needless to say we were quite dejected and began our sad walk out of the store. Then, much to our surprise, a man behind us asked if we came to see him. We turned around, looked up, and there was Jerry West! He signed our $2 basketballs and invited us to walk with him to his car. He asked us our names, and was very friendly. He even showed us his new Lotus. It was like Christmas morning.

Thank you Jerry West for all the thrills you provided for us on the basketball court. Thanks most of all for your act of kindness that Saturday morning a long time ago.

Steve Blum

Ventura

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As a kid, I taped WEST44 on my T-shirt as I shot baskets in the driveway. As an adult, I put WEST44 on my license plate. I was lucky to share his name and even luckier to watch him play in person. I still treasure the autograph he gave me after one of his 50-plus performances in the record playoff series against the Bullets in 1965. I can still hear Chick Hearn saying, “He’ll turn and shoot. There’s the turn, there’s the shot, Mr. Clutch!”

Jerry West is larger than life. Don’t be surprised by anything he accomplishes in Memphis.

Saylor West

Rancho Palos Verdes