Jerry West Parents: Meet Cecil Sue West and Howard Stewart West

Jerry West is an American basketball executive and former player. He is the son of  Cecil Sue West, a housewife, and Howard Stewart West, a coal mine electrician.

Jerry West’s father physically abused him, and West has stated that he slept with a loaded shotgun under his bed for a time out of fear of having to kill his father in self-defence.

In his youth, West was an outgoing and aggressive child. However, his older brother, David, was killed in action in the Korean War in 1951, and the trauma transformed West into a shy and introverted young man. He was so small, frail, and weak that he required numerous vitamin injections from his doctor and was kept away from children’s sports to avoid serious injury.

Jerry West spent his childhood days hunting and fishing, but his favourite pastime was shooting at a basketball hoop that a neighbour had nailed to the ground. He was drafted with the second overall pick by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1960.

Jerry West’s NBA career was a huge success. As a guard, he was named to the All-NBA First and Second Teams 12 times, was elected to the NBA All-Star Team 14 times, and was named All-Star MVP in 1972, the same year he won his only championship. West was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.