EXCLUSIVE: Jerry West, the former LA Laker who is widely considered one of the NBA greats, is getting the documentary treatment.
Amazon has ordered Jerry West: The Logo, a feature-length doc about Mr. Clutch, who died in 2024.
It marks the documentary directing debut of Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, who has previously produced docs before such as Netflix’s Civil: Ben Crump and Blood Brothers: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, but has never helmed one before.
The doc, which is produced by Barris’ Khalabo Ink Society and Propagate, will trace the life and career of West and will premiere on April 16.
West is perhaps best known on the court for his buzzer-beater 60-foot shot that tied game three of the 1970 NBA finals against the New York Knicks. He was elected to the NBA All-Star ream 14 times and won a title in 1972. He went on to coach the Lakers for three years, before becoming general manager.
Jerry West: The Logo will feature what would become West’s final interviews. It will examine “the price of greatness and the man who paid it” as the notoriously private West opens up about his struggles with depression, the marriage that crumbled under the weight of his obsession, his complicated relationship with fatherhood, and the persistent feeling of being an outsider.
It will also includes interviews with friends, family members, teammates, and colleagues such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O’Neal, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, and West’s own wife and several of his children.
Barris also produces with Mychelle Deschamps and Hale Rothstein exec producing for Khalabo Ink Society, alongside Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, Drew Buckley, Isabel San Vargas, and Linh Le of Propagate, and Steven Leckart and E Brian Dobbins. Jamie Nelsen and Susana Santiago produce.