Jonnie West, left, speaks during his late father Jerry West's enshrinement into the Basketball Hall of Fame while, second from left, Pat Riley, Bob McAdoo, Magic Johnson and James Worthy look on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024 in Springfield. , Massachusetts (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The stage was filled with Lakers greats as Jerry West made history Sunday night by becoming the first three-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
When it was time for one of them to speak, he could barely get the words out trying to say what West meant to him.
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“He is a friend and a mentor, and I owe him more than I could ever understand,” Michael Cooper said while fighting back tears.
READ: Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups lead Basketball Hall of Fame inductees
congratulations to #24Hoop class member, Jerry West! pic.twitter.com/Poc4VAdBAs
—NBA (@NBA) October 13, 2024
No wonder Jonnie West said of his father, who died in June at age 86: “Jerry West was loved by almost everyone in basketball.”
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Cooper was enshrined as part of the 13-member class led by Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups. Carter is the only player to appear in four decades and his 22 seasons are an NBA record.
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Even as he prepared to call it quits in 2020 at age 43, Carter had trouble using the word “retire.” That changed, he said, after a conversation with Kobe Bryant during his senior season in which Bryant assured him that life after playing was wonderful. Shortly afterward, Carter reached a settlement and said he was retiring.
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“Because Kobe Bryant let me see that he was okay,” Carter said.
The class also included Phoenix star Walter Davis and former Knicks champion Dick Barnett, with Seimone Augustus and Michele Timms hailing from the WNBA. Doug Collins and Pacers owner Herb Simon were listed as contributors, along with rookie-level coaches Bo Ryan, Harley Redin and Charles Smith.
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This honor for West was for his work as a contributor, largely recognizing the eight championships he helped the Lakers win as an executive.
“Contributor to the game of basketball, you are you in every way and you will live forever,” Jonnie West said, with Lakers Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and James Worthy joining Cooper, with coach Pat Riley nearby.
READ: NBA: The Lakers will honor Jerry West with the band on uniform number 44
West had already been inducted in his playing career with the Lakers that began in 1960, and then again in 2010 as a member of the 1960 U.S. team that won an Olympic gold medal at the start of one of basketball's most incomparable careers.
“The Logo. The icon of our game,” said Cooper, who brought Riley and Johnson back to the stage singing “Cooop!” along with fans when he returned for his own consecration.
West loved finding players for the Lakers and mentoring them once they were, from a No. 60 pick and a defensive specialist from New Mexico like Cooper to a high school teenager like Bryant.
Buoyed by West's acquisition of Bryant and the signing of Shaquille O'Neal in 1996, the Lakers won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002. Billups led the Detroit Pistons to defeat the Lakers in the NBA Finals. 2004 NBA Championship and was named series MVP as a point guard on a team that included Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.
Vince Carter confirms that he is entering the @Hoophall as Toronto Raptor and talks about his bond with Kyle Lowry 🤝#24Hoop class pic.twitter.com/dxegJUBBVJ
—NBA TV (@NBATV) October 14, 2024
“We affectionately called ourselves the five best in the world and no one was going to tell us otherwise,” Billups said.
Billups had a rocky start to his career, lasting only half a season in Boston before the Celtics traded up with the third pick in the 1997 draft. He didn't last much longer in Toronto or Denver, but eventually found his place in Detroit, where the jersey number 1 of the player nicknamed “Mr. Huge Shot” hangs from the rafters.
“I never thought I would need a second home, but in Detroit I have one,” Billups said.
Carter ended up with a lot in his career, which he said included 261 teammates. He started out as a high-flying phenom in Toronto in 1999, where he joined his cousin and now Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady. Shortly before, they found out they were related, and Carter said that when McGrady called him to tell him the news, he said, “Because, I'm going to make sure the Raptors draft you. “I understood you.”
“Here we are today,” Carter added.
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His dunks, whether in Slam Dunk contests, Olympics, or simply in regular season games, made Carter a must-see on television early in his career. He enjoyed continuing to be a productive player on many teams and many years later when he was no longer a high flyer.
He thanked the fans who watched him over the years, both those who cheered and those who booed.
“Man, it's been an honor to fly into stadiums for your entertainment,” Carter said.