The Lakers will honor the late Jerry West on opening night with a ceremony and all season with a band on the left shoulder of their uniforms, the team announced Tuesday.
The purple jersey patch has No. 44 in gold at the center in honor of West, a 14-time All-Star guard known as Mr. Clutch and architect of the Showtime era as a team executive. He died in June at 86.
The Lakers won five NBA championships and reached nine NBA Finals in a 12-year span under West’s direction, with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fortifying the roster.