Jerry West was born in Cheyan, West Virginia, on May 28, 1938. Although after leading East Bank High School to the state championship in 1956, he had his pick of colleges, West stayed true to his West Virginian roots and chose to play college basketball at West Virginia University. After college, he was drafted by the LA Lakers and played for 14 years in the NBA. He has received many awards and recognitions throughout his career, both on and off the court. Perhaps the biggest recognition West has received was having the NBA logo modeled after the silhouette of him dribbling a basketball.Jerry West was a shooting guard who was known for spending long hours working on his shot and perfecting the quick release he is still remembered for. He spent his entire NBA career playing for the LA Lakers and was named an all-star every year he played in the NBA. He was also a US Men’s Basketball Team member who won gold in the 1960 Olympics. In addition to his numerous awards as a player and coach, West might be most memorable for a single photograph. When the NBA commissioned artist Alan Siegel to design a logo for the NBA in 1969, he used a photo of West dribbling the ball as the inspiration.

Jerry West when he was playing at West Virginia University. 

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In 2011, basketball icon Jerry West was honored with the dedication of a bronze statue of him in the plaza of the Staples Center. West's statue is the fifth placed in the plaza since the center opened in 1999, joining the likes of Magic Johnson, Chick Hearn, Oscar De La Hoya, and Wayne Gretzky. A West Virginia native and star at WVU, West was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1960 and played all fourteen seasons in Los Angeles as the team moved before the 1960-1961 season. Following his retirement from playing basketball, West was a coach, a scout, and a general manager. He won the NBA Executive of the Year award twice, once in 1995 and again in 2004. In 1980, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1996, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the NBA. West's influence can even be seen in the logo of the NBA, which includes a silhouette of a player dribbling a ball and was modeled from a photograph of Jerry West.

Statue of Jerry West

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The Los Angeles Lakers are regarded as the most historic of the four professional sports franchises currently home to the Staples Center. The Staples Center has housed 5 NBA titles from the Lakers, and many historic moments. One such moment was Kobe Bryant's 81 point game against the Toronto Raptors which is second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game for highest scoring game by an individual in NBA history. The Staples Center hosted many great Lakers in the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Derrek Fisher, Rick Fox, Devan George, Robert Horry and NBA greats who finished their careers in LA such as Karl Malone and Steve Nash. So while the Lakers may not always be in future championship games, the have still been one of the NBA's most historic teams and they call the Staples Center home.The LA Sparks and LA Kings have also had a history of winning. The LA Sparks have won 2 WNBA championships and have been a resident of the Staples ever since it opened. The LA Kings have won 2 Stanley Cups while playing in the Staples center. The only team of the four LA teams to not win a championship in the Staples Center is the LA Clippers.Other events of historic value that have occurred in the Staples Center reach from politics to pop culture. In the 2000 presidential races the Staples Center hosted the Democratic National Convention. The conclusion of the convention was that Al Gore received the Democratic nomination for that year's election. As far as music and pop culture, Michael Jackson's memorial service was held at the Staples Center.&nbsp;

The Staples Center is a historic arena that is home to four professional sports teams: The Los Angeles Lakers, The Los Angeles Sparks, The Los Angeles Clippers, and The Los Angeles Kings. The Arena opened October 17th, 1999 and has housed many great moments in both sports and cultural history. The Staples Center has been home to everything from Kobe Bryant's 81 point performance against the Toronto Raptors in 2006 to Michael Jackson's memorial service in 2009. The Lakers, Sparks, and Kings continue to bring many championships to LA while playing in the Staples Center, and the four teams continue to make history (Both good and bad) every year. However the Lakers recently finished the 2015-2016 Season with the most losses in the Staples Center's history in one season with 65 losses in an 82 game season. The Staples Center is however still one of the most win associated stadiums in sports.

Shaquille O'Neal was born in Newark, New Jersey on March 6, 1972. After graduating from Cole High School in San Antonio, Texas, he decided to play for Louisiana State University. The freshman center wasted no time making an impact and at 7 feet tall and weighing 315 pounds, he dominated the many of his fellow players. O'Neal was not only the "College Player of the Year" in (1991) but, also a unanimous first team All-American  (1991,1992). He dropped out of college following his junior year to pursue a professional career. He was then drafted by the Orlando Magic within his first week in the league he was the "Player of the Week" something that had not been done before. Although Shaq played for many teams in his nineteen-year career the most career defining moment was him signing with the Lakers in 1996. This contract was the largest in NBA history 120 million over seven years. Not only did he sign with the Lakers in 1996 he also helped the "Dream team" when gold at the Olympics. In his time with the Lakers, his talent led to not only the 2000 MVP but, also three straight NBA championships. He was also known for his infamous feud with Kobe Bryant that eventually led to O'Neal being traded to the Heat. After the trade to the Heat two years later he added his fourth and final championship. Shaquille bounced around to the Suns, Cavaliers, and Celtics. After his last season with the Celtics, he retired and became an analyst on the show "Inside the NBA." He was later inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 2017, one of the top centers of all time was immortalized with this bronze statue outside of the arena he once played in. Shaquille O'Neal was honored with a statue of his signature two-handed slam. This statue celebrates not only the basketball talent and success O'Neal provided while in purple and gold but, also the personality he brought to the city of Los Angeles. He took the city over by storm winning MVP in 2000 and three straight championships from 2000 to 2002.

Shaquille O'Neal Bronze Statue

Magic Johnson started his basketball-playing career in high school in Michigan. He was one of the best players in high school basketball at the time and was recruited by many major schools. He decided to go to Michigan State and there his national career took off. The rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Byrd started in the National Championship game in the College Basketball Tournament and continued for more than a decade in the NBA. As a professional, he played with some of the best basketball players of all time to include the Lakers’ center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Those two were the most dominant duo in the history of the NBA and in Magic’s first year, the Lakers won the NBA championship, while he became the first rookie to ever win the M.V.P. award. Magic and the Lakers played in nine NBA championship series between 1980 and 1991, winning five of them. In 2004 the Magic Johnson statue was unveiled. It was created to commemorate the love the fans and the organization had for Magic. It was also put up to commemorate everything that he did for that organization. He was stunned when he saw the statue and said that it wasn’t just him who deserved it, but the whole team. Though Magic Johnson’s playing career was cut short, he made the most out of it and is now a member of the NBA Hall of Fame.

This statue of Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. was dedicated in 2004 and honors one of most influential athletes of the modern era. Drafted first in the 1979 NBA draft, he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, the team he would play for from 1979 to 1991. At 6 foot 9 inches, he was a formidable point guard from the first game of his professional career. Although he and the Lakers went on to win many NBA championships during his career, perhaps he is best known for the way he retired, ending his career unexpectedly in 1991 after he learned that he had contracted HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.

Statue of Earvin "Magic" Johnson

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Lew Alcindor, Jr) was born in New York in 1947. Alcindor set records in college and was known for his support of the issues of the civil rights movement of the mid and late 1960s. This statue of Abdul-Jabbar was part of a ceremony that honored the legendary center on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. With hundreds of fans looking on, the Lakers organization unveiled a statue of Kareem performing his famous “majestic skyhook” as former coach Pat Riley once called it.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the L.A. Lakers from the Milwaukee Bucks in 1975. The star center played fourteen more seasons before his retirement in 1989. When Kareem retired, he owned records for all-time points scored, games played, minutes played, shots made, shots attempted, blocked shots, defensive rebounds, career wins and personal fouls. Although Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he still owns the record for career points scored during an NBA career with 38,387. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was part of six NBA Championship teams, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, six regular season MVP awards, a 19 time NBA All-Star and many more. His #33 jersey was retired by his college team, UCLA as well as the two teams he played on professionally. During the 1980’s, the Los Angeles Lakers ran an up-tempo style offense dubbed by coach Pat Riley as the “Showtime Lakers.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson were key contributors on that team and created an unstoppable amount of offense and defense. Kareem’s famous skyhook shot helped his teams beat many opponents over the years and was the ultimate motivator for his statue to have the skyhook pose. Other Lakers honored by the Lakers organization are Magic Johnson, Jerry West and Shaquille O’Neal.

This statue honors Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, one of the most influential collegiate and professional athletes in American history. Known as Lew Alcindor prior to changing his name, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in the NBA for twenty seasons. He began his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks and was later traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Known for his civil rights activism as a college athlete and his decision to join protesting athletes in the Olympic games, young Lew Alcindor was once rejected by white basketball fans. His court performance and personality won many admirers during his twenty year professional career and he became the on-court leader of the "Showtime Lakers" of the 1980s. Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics played many competitive games. Their performance and personas fueled one of the greatest team rivalries in professional sports- the rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics that became the story line of many NBA Finals in the 1980s.

Staples Center

Statue of Jerry West

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