by West, Jerry
First published 2011
Jerry West opens his story as the man whose silhouette became the NBA logo, but this memoir digs far beneath that iconic image. For four decades, West shaped basketball history as a player, coach, and general manager. He earned the nickname "Mr. Clutch" and made every All-Star team during his playing career. West built championship dynasties that captured eight titles. Yet his extraordinary success masked a lifetime of personal battles. Poverty marked his early years. Physical abuse scarred his childhood. The death of a cherished brother devastated him. Depression haunted him throughout his career and beyond. West writes with brutal honesty about the man behind the achievements. This autobiography strips away the public persona to reveal someone whose greatest victories came not on the court but in surviving the darkness that threatened to consume him.
Genres: biography, autobiography, memoir, basketball
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-struggles, rags-to-riches
Period: 20th-century
338 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: abuse, depression, mental-illness