In this first biography of sport icon Jerry West--whose distinctive silhouette comprises the NBA logo--award-winning reporter and author Roland Lazenby traces the basketball legend's brilliant career from the coalfields near Cabin Creek, West Virginia, to the bare-knuckled pre-expansion era of the NBA, from the Lakers' Riley-Magic-Kareem Showtime era to the Jackson-Kobe-Shaq teams of the early twenty-first century, and beyond. In his capacity as an executive, West reached out to successive generations of players to enrich and shape the sport in immeasurable ways. Though sometimes overshadowed by flashier peers on the court, Jerry West nevertheless stands out as the heart and soul of a league that, in fifty years, has become a global phenomenon. Granted exclusive interviews with Jerry West's teammates, colleagues, and family members, Roland Lazenby provides the ultimate story of a man who has done more to shape basketball than anyone on the planet.