Hall of famer Jerry West reveals horrors from his past in his memoir – NBA Update
NBA legend Jerry West, the scoring machine from Los Angeles Lakers, had a phenomenal career. Talk about accolades and he has them all. He was a monster on the basketball court and a nightmare for every team’s defense because of
his offensive ingenuity.
However, the guy we have known for giving headache to opponents has been hiding something painful, which he recently revealed in his book "West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life”
It’s a book in which he has disclosed the horrors from his past life.
West says he has combated bleakness since childhood, when his father would bash him, leading to low hanging morale that has disturbed him despite an extraordinary career.
According to the book, West had a nightmarish childhood. One denuded of love and filled with wrath because of his offensive father, who left him feeling crucified and despicable.
"I've been so low sometimes and when everyone else would be so high because I didn't like myself. I would go to bed feeling like I didn't even want to live” West says in a portion airing Tuesday on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant
Gumbel.
His father brutally beat him with a belt according to him. As a kid, West used to wonder when his father would offset and stop with the brutality. For years, he was subjected to this extreme oppression and the poor kid accepted
it quietly.
It was when his father beat his sister that he decided “that’s it”. For the first time in his life, he gathered enough courage to stand up to the man who had been abusing him for years. West had a shotgun and he threatened his
father, he wouldn’t hesitate in using it on his father if the abuse doesn’t stops.
His horrible past did not bother him as an NBAer because he was so bulldozed by fear of failure. However, he would bide in the defeats once the season ended.
He tried everything from therapy to different medications to get rid of the depression but none seemed to work. This affected his married life too.
His wife, Karen admitted, she would often get perturbed with West’s behaviour.
"He wouldn't speak for days at a time … It worried me. Jerry doesn't say 'I love you.' Maybe once a year." Karen added
Horrors from his past though took considerable time but have faded with time. Things started easing up for him in the time he was the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers.
He has revealed most of the secrets from his past life in his memoir but without an ambiguity this stands out as one of the most astounding of them all.
Tags: