One is just known as “The Logo.” The other one dropped 71 points at Madison Square Garden (that was the old Garden, so Kobe’s record stands).
Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, their numbers already hanging together in Staples Center as Lakers legends. They both are in the Hall of Fame. They both were part of the NBA’s 50 greatest players list.
And now they will be memorialized together with a plaque in the Court of Honor out in front of the Coliseum.
That court honors those who have been part of the significant history at the Coliseum or the nearby Sports Arena. And for the first seven-and-a-half seasons after the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, the Sports Arena was home. (Until Jack Kent Cook completed the Forum out in Inglewood.)
During those years, West and Baylor were the cornerstones of a powerhouse team that went to four NBA Finals. Unfortunately, during the 60s the Lakers were the Buffalo Bills of the NBA — constantly reaching the Finals but losing each time. And each time to the Celtics.
West and Baylor — who both were coaches and general managers in the NBA after their playing days — are the first basketball players to join the 56 others in the Court of Honor. John Wooden was the first person tied to basketball, and he was inducted last year.
Other people in the courtyard include John F. Kennedy, who received the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination at the Sports Arena and made his acceptance speech at the Coliseum; and Pope John Paul II, who celebrated Mass in the Coliseum in 1987 and was known for his three-point shot on the basketball court.
