Jerry West: The Only Finals MVP From a Losing Team, and the NBA Logo

Few figures in NBA history are like Jerry West: a legend as a player and, almost accidentally, the visual symbol of the league itself. In 1969, when the Finals MVP award was first created, it went to Jerry West of the Los Angeles Lakers—even though the Lakers lost the Finals to the Boston Celtics. West remains the only Finals MVP ever from a losing team, a distinction that says as much about his greatness as about the early award's awkwardness.

Even more lasting is West's second identity. He is the silhouette behind the official NBA logo: that red-white-blue, side-profile dribbler was traced from a famous photograph of West in motion. A player who was never named on the logo became the league's most famous "face." The NBA has never officially confirmed the figure is West, but the designer, Alan Siegel, has said plainly that it is. West himself was modest and a little embarrassed by it, and in his autobiography he noted he never earned a cent in royalties.

Drafted first overall in 1960 out of West Virginia University, West retired in 1974 having given his entire career to the Lakers. At 6-foot-2 he was not an athletic freak; he won with a clutch heart and a mind that read the game a step ahead. His jump shot was elegant and lethal; his crunch-time nerve was icy. In 1972, at age 34, West finally won a title as the Lakers ran off an NBA-record 33-game win streak.

After retiring, West became an executive of rare genius. He built the Lakers' "Showtime" dynasty, then in 1996 traded Vlade Divac for the 13th pick—a teenager named Kobe Bryant—and signed Shaquille O'Neal, laying the foundation for the early-2000s three-peat. Later, as a consultant with Golden State, he helped shape the Splash Brothers era. West died in June 2024 at age 86; the NBA flew flags at half-staff.

From player to logo, from Lakers to Warriors, West spent a lifetime showing what it means to be the most valuable loser and the smartest winner. The red silhouette does not age. It hangs on every jersey and every court, a quiet reminder that the league's most enduring image is a man named Jerry West.

Related Reading

• 1969 NBA Finals MVP: Jerry West (Los Angeles Lakers)
• Teaming With Wilt: Two Lonely Stars Align
• The 1972 Title: West’s Redemption at Age 34
• Kobe and West: A Cross-Generational Bond
• The Logo: How a Red Silhouette Became Jerry West