Pan Jia Yuan wrote:KayDee35 wrote:Jerry West was 1-8 in NBA finals. He's always talked about as a perennial loser who accomplished nothing. He gets no respect around the league and will never be remembered. /s
Sometimes I wonder if it's summer already when I see threads like these.
Well, he's the logo because of a PR agency/NBA decision. But I've literally never seen him ranked among the Top 10.
That's what 1-8 does to you.
Make it 4-5 and people would say he's Top 10, and the 2nd best SG, and better than Bird, and what not.
Making the finals matters, no doubt.
But when it comes GOAT discussions, Top 10 debates etc. - then it's about winning everything.
People will remember Malone, Ewing, Barkley, Nash etc. as Top 5-10 on their positions, but nobody would ever say they're better than Duncan, Kareem, Hakeem, Magic. First and foremost because of - the ring thing.
Narratives change with time because the pseudo-metrics and the players involved have changed. West was widely regarded as the best SG ever prior to Jordan. He had the highest career playoff PPG (prior to MJ). He is the only player to have won finals MVP despite his team losing the series.
And he's still referred to as 'Mr. Clutch.' Not Mr. Choke Artist, not Mr. Fail, and not one of the other numerous negative nicknames the the idiots at ESPN (who drive much of the sports narratives in this country) would have given him.
West ran into the Celtic dynasty and was the underdog in all but one Finals. He was respected more by those Celtics than he is today because narratives change and memories fade.
