EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers will honor Jerry West in the upcoming season with a uniform band featuring his No. 44.
The Lakers announced their plan Tuesday to remember West, who died in June at 86.
The purple band on the left shoulder of the Lakers’ uniforms has No. 44 in gold at the center. West played his entire 14-year NBA career for the Lakers, becoming one of the greatest scorers and most versatile guards of his era while earning 14 All-Star selections and earning the nickname “Mr. Clutch.”
West went on to be a coach and an executive with the Lakers, most notably building the 1980s “Showtime” roster around Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Lakers won five NBA championships and reached nine NBA Finals in a 12-year span.
West stayed on for the beginning of the Lakers’ next championship era, acquiring Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal before departing in 2000.
The Lakers also plan to have a formal ceremony honoring West at their season opener against Minnesota on Oct. 22. West worked for the Grizzlies, Warriors and Clippers in the two decades before his death.
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The Laker also confirmed their previously reported plan to retire Michael Cooper’s No. 21 jersey on Jan. 13.
Cooper, the shooting guard on the Lakers’ best Showtime-era teams, was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this year. The Lakers only retire the jerseys of Hall of Fame players.
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