Jerry West, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee as a professional player, Olympian and executive and the presumed inspiration behind the NBA's iconic logo, died Wednesday at the age of 86.

The Los Angeles Clippers announced West's death in a statement. The basketball legend had been with the team as a board member and consultant since 2017.

"Jerry West, the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him, passed away this morning at the age of 86," the Clippers said Wednesday. "His wife, Karen, was by his side."

West was a part of nine NBA champion teams as a player and executive and also led the United States to a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1980, an Olympian in 2010 and will go in as a contributor later this year.

An All-Star in all 14 of his playing seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, West's silhouette is believed to be the model for the famed logo the NBA has used since 1971.

West achieved more success in the front office as one of the architects of the Lakers' "Showtime" era that won five NBA titles in a nine-year span from 1980-88. He led the franchise to another title as general manager in 2000, then was later a part of the Golden State Warriors' 2015 and 2017 championship teams as an advisor.

“Jerry West was a basketball genius and a defining figure in our league for more than 60 years," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "He distinguished himself not only as an NBA champion and an All-Star in all 14 of his playing seasons, but also as a consummate competitor who embraced the biggest moments.  He was the league’s first Finals MVP and made rising to the occasion his signature quality, earning him the nickname ‘Mr. Clutch’.

“Jerry’s four decades with the Lakers also included a successful stint as a head coach and a remarkable run in the front office that cemented his reputation as one of the greatest executives in sports history.  He helped build eight championship teams during his tenure in the NBA – a legacy of achievement that mirrors his on-court excellence.  And he will be enshrined this October into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor, becoming the first person ever inducted as both a player and a contributor.

“I valued my friendship with Jerry and the knowledge he shared with me over many years about basketball and life. On behalf of the NBA, we send our deepest condolences to Jerry’s wife, Karen, his family and his many friends in the NBA community.”

A native of West Virginia, West first garnered notoriety with a prolific playing career at West Virginia University, where he led his home-state school to an appearance in the 1959 national championship game and was named the Most Outstanding Player of that year's FInal Four. 

West was a three-time All-America at WVU and still ranks as the school's career leader with 2,309 points. Following his final season, he served as co-captain along with fellow NBA legend Oscar Robertson of the U.S. team that captured gold at the 1960 Summer Games.

The then-Minneapolis Lakers selected West with the second overall pick of the 1960 draft, just months before the franchise relocated to Los Angeles for its inaugural season. The 6-foot-3 guard would go on to become one of the NBA's premier all-around players, as he averaged over 25 points per game in 11 of his 14 seasons, was named to the All-NBA First Team 10 times and was a four-time member of the league's All-Defensive First Team.

Winning a title proved to be more elusive, however. The Lakers reached the NBA Finals seven times from 1962-70 but were defeated on each occasion, with six of those losses coming to the Boston Celtics, the league's unquestioned dynasty of that period. 

West finally broke through during the latter stages of his career when the 1971-72 Lakers, a team that also included Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Gail Goodrich, defeated the New York Knicks in five games in the Finals. It was West's lone NBA title as a player.

Injuries and a contract dispute with then-owner Jack Kent Cooke prompted West to retire at age 36 following the 1973-74 season. He finished his career as the franchise's all-time scoring leader at the time with 25,192 points, despite playing in an era where the 3-point shot did not exist.

After a three-year stint as the Lakers' head coach from 1976-79, West remained with the organisation as a scout before being named general manager in 1982. He inherited a roster coming off its second NBA title in three years and owned the No. 1 selection in that year's draft from a previous trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

West took North Carolina's James Worthy with the pick, and the future Hall of Famer joined superstars Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to help the Lakers win three more titles in 1985, 1987 and 1988.

Though the Lakers failed to win a championship during the 1990s, a decade dominated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, West laid the foundation for another dynasty by trading veteran centre Vlade Divac to Charlotte for the Hornets' first-round pick in 1996, a selection he used to take Kobe Bryant. He signed star centre Shaquille O'Neal that same year and later hired former Bulls head coach Phil Jackson in 1999.

With Jackson behind the bench and Bryant and O'Neal forming a near-unstoppable inside-outside duo, the Lakers captured three consecutive NBA championships from 2000-02.

West was only a part of one of those title runs, however, as he left the Lakers after the 1999-2000 season and became the GM of the Memphis Grizzlies two years later. The Grizzlies won 50 games and reached the play-offs for the first time in franchise history in 2003-04, earning West the NBA's Executive of the Year award for the second time in his career (also in 1995).

After retiring as a GM following the 2006-07 season, West resurfaced as an advisor and executive board member for the Warriors in 2011. He spent six years with the organisation and had a hand in overseeing two more champion teams when the Warriors won the 2015 and 2017 NBA Finals.

"Jerry had a profound and immense impact on our franchise and was instrumental in our recent decade of success," Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob said in a statement.  "Personally, as a child, despite growing up a Celtics fan in Massachusetts, Jerry was my idol and I loved him. To me, he was basketball.

"He was not just about the actual game, but he personified competitiveness. He was the most competitive individual I have ever met, settling for nothing short of greatness. He had to win. It consumed him. He was bigger than life. He was an icon."

West parted ways with Golden State in 2017 and joined the Clippers as a board member and consultant later that year.

Named one of the NBA's 75 greatest players during the league's 75th anniversary celebration in 2021, West was also awarded the Presidental Medal of Freedom by then-President Donald Trump in 2019.