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Jerry Alan West was born into a poor household in Chelyan, West Virginia. He was the fifth of six children of Cecil Sue West, a housewife, and Howard Stewart West, a coal mine electrician. West was previously an aggressive child in his youth, until his brother's death at the Korean War aged 21 turned him into a shy and introverted boy when Jerry was 12/13. He was so small, frail, and weak that he needed lots of vitamin injections from his doctor and was kept apart from children's sports, to prevent him from getting seriously injured.

Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke was known for having a keen eye identifying leadership and teaching qualities (he also gave Hall of Famers Sparky Anderson and Joe Gibbs their first managerial/head coaching positions), and asked West to coach and participate in player personnel decisions. In the 1976-77 season, West became coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. In three years, he led the Lakers and star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to a 145-101 record, making the playoffs in all 3 seasons and reaching the Western Conference Finals once in 1977. After his coaching stint, he worked as a scout for three years before becoming general manager of the Lakers prior to the 1982-83 season. NBA.com credits West in creating the great 1980s Lakers dynasty, which brought five championship rings (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988) to Los Angeles. After a slump in the early 1990s, West rebuilt the team of coach Del Harris around center Vlade Divac, forward Cedric Ceballos, and guard Nick Van Exel, which won 48 games, and went to the Western Conference Semifinals; for turning the team around, West received his first Executive of the Year Award. By trading Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant, signing free agent center Shaquille O'Neal, and signing six-time NBA champion Phil Jackson as a coach, West laid down the fundaments of the Lakers three-peat which saw L.A. win three NBA titles from 2000 to 2002. In 2002, West became general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies. He explained his decision with the desire for exploring something new: "After being a part of the Lakers success for so many years, I have always wondered how it would be to build a winning franchise that has not experienced much success. I want to help make a difference." West's Memphis stint was not as spectacular as his Los Angeles stint, but he turned a franchise which was about to be sold into a reliable playoffs team, practically making no trades but getting the maximum from the players he had available (e.g. Pau Gasol, James Posey and Jason Williams) and signing coach Hubie Brown, who became Coach of the Year in 2004. West himself won his second NBA Executive of the Year Award in the same year. At age 69, West retired as a Grizzlies general manager in 2007 and turned over managing duties to Chris Wallace, from Buckhannon, West Virginia. On May 19, 2011, West joined the Golden State Warriors as an executive board member, reporting directly to new owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. This role also came with an undisclosed minority ownership stake in the team. In 2015, the Warriors won their first championship in 40 years; the championship was the seventh earned by West while serving as a team executive. He earned his eighth in the 2016-2017 season. On June 14, 2017, West announced that he would go to the Los Angeles Clippers as an executive board member. CANNOTANSWER

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In 2002, West became general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies. He explained his decision