Jerry West dies at age 86

Basketball has lost one of its greatest people. Early on Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Clippers announced that Jerry West — the man so iconic that he became the logo for the NBA — had died at the age of 86.

West’s career was, simply put, one of the greatest in history. As a player, he spent 14 seasons in the league, all with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was an All-Star in all 14 of those seasons, an All-NBA selection in all but two of those seasons, an MVP runner-up four times, and an NBA champion in 1972. He remains the only player in NBA history to win an NBA Finals MVP while playing for the losing team, which he accomplished in 1969.

He retired in 1974, but you could argue that his best…