Jerry West. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

How Lakers players will honor Jerry West in 2024-2025 season

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Sep 11, 2024 8:18 AM ET

The Lakers have announced new initiatives to immortalize one of their fallen legends.

During the 2024-2025 season, every Lakers player will wear a commemorative No. 44 band on their jerseys to honor the legacy of Jerry West, who died peacefully in his sleep in June.

Furthermore, the Lakers will gift West's No. 44 jerseys to fans at the Crypto.com Arena on Oct. 22 when they kick off their regular-season campaign against the Timberwolves.

The team will honor Jerry West with a commemorative No. 44 band on their jerseys this season pic.twitter.com/S8MZ3WN5DB
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 10, 2024

Lakers announce their recognition, game updates, and fan giveaways for the upcoming season, including a number 44 band that will be worn on jerseys honoring Jerry West: pic.twitter.com/4gcJP8Id21
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) September 10, 2024

The initiatives don't come as a shock considering West's contributions to the Purple and Gold.

The West Virginia alum led the Lakers to an incredible nine NBA Finals between 1962 and 1973, averaging 27.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists through his 14 seasons with the franchise. Nicknamed "Mr. Clutch" for his ability to deliver in big moments, he still holds the record for most 30-point games in the NBA Finals, with 31 such outings across 55 games. With 1,679 points, he remains the all-time leading scorer in the NBA Finals over LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In his post-playing career, "The Logo" made just as big of an impact as a front-office executive, architecting the dynasties of the Showtime Lakers and the Shaquille O'Neal- and Kobe Bryant-led teams in the late 1990s and 2000s.

West remains the only basketball figure in history to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame on three occasions, twice for his exploits as a player and once as a contributor (executive).

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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