YouTube Gold: Jerry West’s Jump Shot Was A Marvel
Jerry West’s jumper was unbelievably fast.
INGLEWOOD, CA - 1971: Jerry West #44 of the Los Angeles Lakers takes the jump shot during an NBA game against the New York Knicks circa 1971 at the Forum in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Martin Mills/Getty Images) | Getty Images Before he became one the best two GMs in NBA history (along with Red Auerbach), Jerry West had a brilliant career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a lean 6-4 guard who punished his body constantly by driving to the lane against massive defenders.
Do a search on his injuries sometime. His ankles and feet were constant victims, and there are photos of him playing with a mask over his broken nose. He was really tough.
But his calling card was a beautiful jump shot. This video breaks his shot down in various ways , but the most interesting thing to us is his release. Today, most players extend their hand/wrist through the shot.
You see photos of players with the ball on the way to the basket and what you usually see is the follow-through. A great example of this is Michael Jordan’s game-winning shot against Georgetown in 1982 . He has an immaculate follow-through (scroll down just a bit).