Brown finished with eight rebounds and eight assists as the Celtics extended their franchise record with a 10th consecutive playoff victory and moved to 7-0 on the road this postseason. They can win the series and break a tie with the Lakers for most NBA championships with a victory Friday in Dallas.

Boston also improved to 10-1 in these playoffs without Kristaps Porzingis after the 7-foot-2 Latvian was ruled out about two hours before the game because of a rare tendon injury in his lower left leg sustained in Game 2.

The status of Porzingis for the rest of the series appears in doubt, but it might not matter. None of the previous 156 teams to face a 3-0 deficit has rallied to win an NBA playoff series.

The Mavs almost pulled off a crazy comeback to avoid the big hole — 13 years after the only other rally to match it in the NBA Finals sparked Dallas’ run to its only title against Miami.

Boston led 91-70 at the end of a 20-5 run early in the fourth quarter before Dallas answered with a 22-2 spurt to get within a point with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Problem was, Luka Doncic picked up his sixth foul with 4:12 remaining when a challenge was unsuccessful before Kyrie Irving, who scored 35 points, hit a jumper to get Dallas within one.

Tatum and Brown saved the Celtics from there, with some help from Derrick White, who scored 16. Those three combined for the remaining 13 Boston points.

Connecticut opened the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run, started by Tiffany Mitchell’s steal and fast-break layup. Thomas also had a steal and transition basket to make it 68-55.

Sky guard Diamond DeShields made a 3-pointer with 28.2 seconds left to pull within 79-75. But DeWanna Bonner sealed it with two free throws at the other end.

Bonner finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Tyasha Harris had 13 points and seven assists for Connecticut (11-1). Thomas also had six of the Sun’s 13 steals.

Rookie Angel Reese had a season-high 20 points and 10 rebounds for her fourth straight game with a double-double for the Sky (4-7). Reese was 8 of 10 from the field to set another season high for makes. Kamilla Cardoso, Chennedy Carter and Marina Mabrey each scored 10 for the Sky.

The Sun started 1 of 10 from 3-point range until their second make came with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter. Bonner was 0 of 7 from distance and Connecticut finished 3 of 14.

It’s a movie Prater is quite familiar with, which is why he and his caddie staked out a spot at the far right end of the practice range — just in case things went completely awry.

“It was funny we were joking before we got out here, like, we’re not going to the left side of the range just because we didn’t want that dreaded S-word to kick in,” Prater said with a laugh, referring to Costner’s character who developed a case of the shanks before his round. “We didn’t want that moment of, ‘turn your hat around, put your things in the other pocket.’”

You can’t blame Prater for being a little nervous.

After all, his full-time job is as a biology teacher and golf coach at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Colo. He got a spot at Pinehurst by finishing second at a 36-hole qualifier in Bend, Ore. He’s one of 73 qualifiers to emerge from 9,522 entrants.

The 29-year-old teacher is considered one of the top amateur players in Colorado, but he never has been to a U.S. Open let alone played in one.

So the experience, he said, has been surreal.

He played a practice round Monday with Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris. On Tuesday he was paired with defending U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark. And on Wednesday, he played nine holes with 2015 champion Jordan Spieth and Sam Burns.

After he walked off the practice green Wednesday, he introduced himself to Rory McIlroy — and came away with the best advice he has received all week.

“Rory said, ‘Listen, this golf course is amazing, but you have to be patient and hit the middle of the green,’ ” Prater said. “It really resonated with me because at the end of the day, it’s all just golf. If I can execute the shots that I’ve hit more than a thousand times, I can do this.”

Prater has plenty of experience, although not at this level.

He was a former Division II first-team All-American at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and, in 2020, won both the Colorado Golf Association’s Amateur and Match Play. He played last month at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

He’s played Pinehurst once before at the 2019 U.S. Amateur, although he failed to advance to match play.

There was a time he considered pursuing a career as a professional player, but his love of teaching kids and the idea of being a husband and father took precedence. He and his wife, Madi, are set to welcome their second child next month.

He considers golf a hobby.

“I have an awesome life,” Prater said. “I love being a teacher; I love being a coach. I love to see that lightbulb moment in a kids’ eyes when biology starts to make sense, and they fall in love with it. And I love to see a beginner golfer pick up the game and fall in love with and want to work to get better. But most of all, I love being a father.”

So he has no immediate plans to try to join the PGA Tour even if things go extraordinarily well at Pinehurst.

In his mind, this week as already been a “win,” getting to play three practice rounds at one of the world’s most famous courses while walking around inside the ropes with the best players in the world.

Entering Thursday’s opening round he has one goal: He wants to make the cut.

“I would love to play golf for four days,” Prater said. “I think that’s attainable, I think that’s achievable. If I can take care of business and don’t let the moment get too big for me, if I don’t look at the grandstand and get freaked out by it all.”

Or get the shanks.

Bellinger squandered runners on first and third base in the fifth inning Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, striking out on four pitches to end the frame with the Chicago Cubs trailing the Tampa Bay Rays by one run. So when he stepped to the plate in the seventh, again with two outs and two on base, Bellinger was determined to take advantage of the moment.

Bellinger got all of lefty Garrett Cleavinger’s 1-2 cutter down in the zone, turning on it for a go-ahead, three-run home run to right field. Tyson Miller and Drew Smyly combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings and Héctor Neris bounced back from surrendering a walk-off home run the night before to secure the 4-3 victory.

“Three-run homers change games, and that swing certainly changed the game,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was a big swing at a time we needed that held up.”

The Cubs have been stung during this rough offensive stretch with hard-hit balls finding leather or dying at the warning track. Seiya Suzuki was finally on the right side of luck, tying the game in the fourth on his home run to center field. Right-hander Javier Assad allowed two runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

“It definitely felt amazing,” Bellinger said of his home run. “I was just frustrated with my previous at-bat and got another opportunity … really just kind of just locked in and tried to get the job done.

“Definitely relieves the pressure. We’ve hit a lot of balls hard right at people and it’s kind of how it goes when things aren’t going your way and to have a big one right there go over the fence feels really good.”

Neris had an adventurous ninth inning en route to his 10th save. He gave up a one-out solo home run and had runners on second and third when Brandon Lowe, the Rays’ walk-off hero Tuesday, was up with two outs. This time Neris bested Lowe, forcing him to fly out to end the game.

Wednesday’s victory represented their 27th one-run game (13-14) on a night the Cubs’ batting order featured a noticeably different look at the top.

Third baseman Christopher Morel hit leadoff for the first time this season with Michael Busch slotting into the No. 2 spot, the highest he’s batted this year. Counsell lined up Bellinger and Suzuki in the Nos. 3 and 4 positions in the order while Ian Happ batted fifth.

It appeared to work for the night as the Cubs (33-35) defeated the Rays.

The revamped batting order quickly put pressure on Rays starter Aaron Civale, loading the bases in the first inning behind Busch’s one-out single, Suzuki’s two-out single and Ian Happ’s four-pitch walk. Their struggles with runners in scoring position remained as Nico Hoerner grounded out to end the inning.

“Really just seeing how all that rolls,” Counsell said of the lineup changes. “(Morel’s) been as good as anyone and for us, the ball-strike and getting on base and creating walks and making good swing decisions. It’s been a step forward, I think we’ve all seen that. It just puts that threat right at the start of the lineup and at the start of the game of a guy that can hurt you and then also get on base.”

Suzuki hit a solo home run in the fourth inning off Civale to tie the game at 1. He went 2-for-4 while Busch went 2-for-3 in the new order.

“Look, we’re playing the same guys, everybody’s going to hit four times, but yeah it’s a little bit guys are walking up (to the plate) at different times,” Counsell said. “You’re trying to put guys in spots to succeed that makes sense and maybe gives some guys a different look.

“We try to make decisions that have reasons behind them, a process behind them. Sometimes they don’t work, and I don’t have an explanation. But really it’s because it’s competition, the other side is trying to beat you and that’s part of it.”

Hoerner was back in the starting lineup for the first time since last Thursday when he sustained a fracture in his right hand. The Cubs will continue to monitor his hand as the days progress. Counsell expects to get feedback Thursday on how Hoerner feels after swinging a bat in game action Wednesday for the first time since the injury occurred. Doctors previously told Hoerner and the team that he is not expected to worsen the fracture by playing, but he might have to manage pain.

“I don’t know what to expect really,” Counsell said. “It could be nothing, could be something. We’re going to have to see what’s going on.

“He does dive a lot, we see that so he hasn’t had any problems doing that. Sometimes you can feel that stuff just in everyday life, getting out of bed or whatever, really there’s been nothing he’s mentioned.”

The Chicago White Sox left fielder said missing time because of his recent stint on the injured list was “terrible.”

“I was bored just watching the games and wanting to be out there,” Benintendi said Wednesday. “Excited to be back right now.”

The Sox reinstated Benintendi from the 10-day injured list, one of four roster moves announced Wednesday.

Benintendi went on the IL on June 2 with left Achilles tendinitis.  He is hitting .195 with five doubles, four home runs and 18 RBIs in 51 games. Benintendi returns after appearing in two rehab games with the Arizona Complex League White Sox.

“It just needs a lot more time to be completely gone but I feel confident being in there now,” he said of the injury.

He was not in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

“He flew today, he played last night (for the ACL White Sox),” manager Pedro Grifol said. “We’re just going to let him go about his business here, get his work done and be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Sox also reinstated reliever Steven Wilson from the 15-day injured list. The right-hander went on the IL on May 20 with a back strain. He is 1-2 with a 2.84 ERA, six holds and 19 strikeouts in 21 relief outings. Wilson made two rehab appearances for Triple-A Charlotte before returning.

“I was kind of frustrated with it because I felt I was starting to get into a rhythm and feeling good on the mound,” Wilson said. “I had a couple good outings in New York (May 17 and 19) so that was frustrating. You never want to get on the IL.

“Thinking back, it happened when I kind of slipped on the mound in New York, that second outing the right side was kind of tight and when I worked out after that, my whole right side locked up when I was lifting. Kind of a bummer, freak thing but it is what it is.”

The Sox also optioned outfielder Duke Ellis to Charlotte and designated reliever Tim Hill for assignment.

Hill is 1-0 with a 5.87 ERA, one hold and 13 strikeouts in 22 relief appearances. He signed a one-year, $1.8 million deal with the Sox in the offseason.

“It was unfortunate that we had to make a decision like that,” Grifol said. “We like what (reliever Justin) Anderson’s doing, we like what (reliever Jared) Shuster’s doing. So it’s not so much what he’s done, but it’s what he brought to us and also what these guys have been doing back there.

“We like Anderson. We like Shuster. These guys have done well up here and we can only keep eight back there (in the bullpen).”

Ellis went 0-for-4 with a run and four stolen bases in his first eight major-league games with the Sox.

“I saw a guy that can impact the game quickly with his legs,” Grifol said. “He’s going to continue to refine those skills and he’s going to be a big part of this when this is going really good.”

Veteran players left for the summer last week after mandatory minicamp, but coach Matt Eberflus held three more rookie sessions that he said allowed the coaches to slow down their teaching and explain concepts in detail.

Before they departed, Eberflus offered a message to the rookies, noting that more work needs to be done before training camp.

“Where we’re at right now is a place where we can’t be,” Eberflus said. “We’ve got to be at a level up. We’ve got to level up two spots in those four weeks in the preparation.”

After practice, Eberflus, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze spoke to reporters about the offseason and what’s next before camp. Here are highlights from those sessions.

Caleb Williams watch

The Bears quarterback has only 34 days to fill between Wednesday’s official end of the offseason program and the rookie reporting date for training camp in mid-July. Williams has vowed to find a healthy balance between continuing his growth as a player while also finding time for decompression and leisure.

“You set a plan,” he said. “You set a routine before it happens so that you’re not in the process of trying to figure, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen (next)? When am I going to come back to work? What day am I going to start working? What day am I going to do this and that?’

“You set all that in place and then you stick to it. That’s the biggest thing for the offseason I’ve gotten from the older guys is set a plan, stick to it and go from there.”

Williams has been pushing to assemble a group trip — likely somewhere in Florida or California — for key offensive and defensive players to strengthen their chemistry on the field and their bond off of it. He said Wednesday his biggest accomplishment during his first seven weeks as a Bear was establishing an early connection with so many teammates, something he will continue to prioritize.

Photos: Inside Chicago Bears minicamp at Halas Hall

He understands his own responsibility, while crossing the bridge from OTAs to training camp, to heighten his mastery of the offense and all that will be required of him. With his coaches continually reminding him to stay grounded at this stage of development, the next steps, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said, will require Williams to absorb the voluminous offense the Bears have given him while developing “continued ownership of the scheme and of the operation.”

“There is expectation there,” Waldron said. “Because that’s studying and that’s putting in the work — even though it’s downtime — on that relentless pursuit of finding the edge.

“And for him, finding that edge going into training camp is about being better than he was when he left here today without the benefit of practices. And that will be so much focused on studying, watching tape and then throwing and working on his fundamentals.”

Player in the spotlight

Odunze may be in the NFL now, but that doesn’t mean his mom is off the hook for helping him train.

He said one of his methods for learning, along with taking notes and watching film, is having his parents call out plays while he runs routes. And that won’t stop this summer now that he’s the No. 9 NFL draft pick.

“When I go back to Vegas, Mom is going to have to go to work,” Odunze said with a smile. “She’s going to have to be out there in that 115 degrees. She already knows that. But it’s all love. They want the best for me. They enjoy it.”

Over his break, Odunze plans to spend a week or two with family and friends while also working on his strength and conditioning because he isn’t where he wants to be from a physical standpoint. Then he’ll focus on training with the intention of returning to Lake Forest two weeks before camp starts to get into a routine.

Odunze got off to a slow start in his first professional offseason program because of a hamstring issue, which he said popped up because he didn’t prepare his body for the number of reps he’d be getting with his new team after the buildup to the draft.

But he recovered fairly quickly and was able to get in plenty of work with Williams against the Bears starting defense, which he said sharpened his skills. He also thinks being around veteran wide receivers Keenan Allen and DJ Moore has helped his growth.

Chicago Bears Q&A: With greater roster concerns, why sign Marcedes Lewis? Any off-the-radar players to watch this summer?

“It’s not even measurable the impact they can make on my career,” Odunze said. “Just being in the room with them for four weeks, I’ve already learned so much. So to be in a room with them throughout a whole season, learning from them in training camp, it’s just going to take my game to the next level and something I’m super excited about because it’s not often that you get to come on to the wing of a Hall of Famer and a soon-to-be Hall of Famer.”

Eberflus and Waldron said Odunze has picked up the offense and his understanding of all three receiver spots quickly.

“Some guys just have a knack to do it, right?” Eberlus said. “They can see the pictures, the drawings in the classroom, and they can apply that right to the field. He’s able to process a bunch of information at the same time and then take it to the field. He’s really good that way.”

Heard at Halas Hall

With so many new faces on the offense, relationship building was a focus during the offseason, and one of the most important unions is that of Waldron and Williams.

Since Williams arrived at Halas Hall at the beginning of May, Waldron said he has been struck by the quarterback’s ability to listen and desire to learn every day. Waldron has seen that in Williams’ readiness in the meeting room and in his texts at “all sorts of different times” asking about the “whys” of plays.

Williams said he and Waldron have been growing together, figuring out what works for them and how they will communicate when Williams is on the field or the sideline.

“That’s one of the most, if not the most, important relationships on the coaching staff and throughout this team for me to have is my OC,” Williams said. “And for us to be on the same page throughout this process and growing and learning (is key).”

Waldron also wants to get to understand Williams off the field.

“When the season starts, when there are different ups and downs during the season, I think the closer you are with people, the more willing you are to listen and overcome hard times during the season,” Waldron said. “So we’re just building up that armor, developing that relationship and just getting ready to go for this 2024 season.”

Quote of note

Eberflus on the value 40-year-old tight end Marcedes Lewis brings to the team after he re-signed this week: “He’s a tremendous leader who has a great way about him. And he has great wisdom and discernment. He helps everyone in the building, not just the players. He helps me in terms of having the feel for the team and where everybody is. He has been a tremendous leader since I’ve known him and we’re certainly excited to have him back.”

Injury update

Third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie remained unable to participate in on-field work during the final OTA sessions as he works his way back from quadriceps surgery in October.

Eberflus said the Bears project Amegadjie will be ready to get back on the field when training camp starts next month. If that’s the case, the rookie should be in line to compete for the swing offensive tackle role.

In the meantime, Eberflus said, Amegadjie has impressed the coaching staff with his retention of information and ability to understand protection responsibilities and blocking schemes.

LAWRENCE, Kansas — Douglas County prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the rape trial of Terrence Shannon Jr. as jurors heard testimony from his accuser’s best friend and others who were present at the crowded bar near the University of Kansas campus the night of the alleged sexual assault.

Shannon, a Chicago native and University of Illinois men’s basketball standout, faces one count of rape or an alternative count of aggravated sexual battery, also a felony. He stands accused of putting his hand under an 18-year-old woman’s skirt, grabbing her buttocks and penetrating her vagina with his finger while in an area of the Jayhawk Cafe called the Martini Room.

Shannon has denied the allegations, which stem from a September trip he and two others took to Lawrence to watch an Illini-Jayhawks football game. His NBA hopes — some prognosticators believe he could be a first-round pick in this month’s draft — likely hinge on the outcome of a trial that is scheduled to conclude two weeks before the NBA draft.

Day three of the trial also included testimony from two forensic scientists, one from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the other privately hired by the defense, whose analysis and interpretation of DNA in the case reached somewhat different conclusions.

Both agreed that no male DNA was detected in swabs taken from the 18-year-old’s vagina and genital area.

The KBI forensic scientist wrote in her report that swabs from the interior and exterior crotch of the woman’s underwear revealed an “insufficient amount of male DNA” to move forward with testing, though she told jurors Wednesday that those levels were essentially too low to say conclusively whether they were even DNA.

But the defense’s forensic scientist called the report’s reference to male DNA “a very misleading statement.”

Using a different measurement threshold than the KBI, the defense’s scientist also concluded “with scientific certainty” that Shannon’s DNA was not in a sample collected from the 18-year-old’s buttocks.

The day began with testimony from the accuser’s 19-year-old best friend and roommate, who gave jurors a now-familiar account of the night, starting with their attendance at the KU-Illini football game, followed by a bite to eat at their apartment, stops at the Jayhawk Cafe (known locally as The Hawk) and a second bar in downtown Lawrence and, then, a return visit to The Hawk.

She told jurors she was next to the 18-year-old as they tried to weave through the packed Martini Room toward the exit, and that she was the one who encouraged her to go back inside after the 18-year-old told her about a cute guy who waved her over to him.

“I figured it would make her night more fun,” she told jurors.

The friend testified she did not see the alleged assault take place and only realized later that night that her roommate’s urgent request to leave was not because of the crowd.

The friend also told jurors that she saw Shannon grab the 18-year-old’s hand or wrist and pull her toward him. But on questioning from Shannon’s attorney, Tricia Bath, she acknowledged she did not share that detail in previous interviews with police or prosecutors.

Later in the trial, Bath called a computer forensics expert to the stand who, acting on a defense subpoena, extracted data from the accuser’s friend’s phone. That data, he testified, showed that the two women returned to the Martini Room about 24 hours after the alleged sexual assault.

Phone records also showed a December group message thread involving the two women and their two other roommates, including the best friend’s sister. The exchange included a link to an ESPN article on Shannon’s suspension from the Illini men’s team following the rape charge, and a message from the friend’s sister that read “got his ass,” followed by two face emojis with dollar signs for eyes and cash for tongues.

The testimony did not mention any response from the 18-year-old to that message.

KU men’s basketball players Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. also testified on the defense’s behalf, as did Illini guard Justin Harmon and the team’s graduate assistant, DyShawn Hobson. All four were with Shannon at the Martini Room that night; all four said they never saw him grab any woman at the bar.

Shannon’s academic adviser at Illinois, Reba Daniels, also took the stand. She said she also taught courses Shannon took and worked with him during an internship with the university.

“I was completely shocked,” she said when asked about her reaction to the allegations against Shannon, whom she described as kind, trustworthy, hardworking, and a “gentle giant.”

“It’s just not the person I know,” she told jurors. “Even to this day, I’m shocked I’m sitting here.”

Closing arguments are expected to take place Thursday.

Riot Fest announced Wednesday that it is moving to SeatGeek Stadium in the southwest suburb. The music festival will run from Sept. 20-22 — conflicting with the Sept. 21 Red Stars-San Diego Wave match. The decision drew ire from Red Stars leadership, which is now scrambling to find a new home for a nationally broadcast match in a whiplash moment only days after drawing a league-record crowd for a match at Wrigley Field.

“It’s devastating,” team President Karen Leetzow told the Tribune. “It’s devastating to have to go from that kind of a high to this kind of a low, to tell your staff and players that this is the level of respect we’ve gotten immediately after delivering that event.”

Bridgeview mayor Steven Landek first informed the Red Stars in early May of a potential need to vacate the stadium for the Sept. 21 game. Following an initial conversation, the Red Stars never received a follow-up or logistical support from the mayor’s office, even after reaching out for clarification, sources told the Tribune. The Red Stars found out Bridgeview was moving forward with plans to use the stadium on that date when a lawyer with Riot Fest reached out to the club earlier this month in regards to signing a contract with the village. The Tribune left a message for Landek seeking comment on the situation.

The current lease allows for SeatGeek and the city to host ancillary events at the same time as Red Stars games. However, the lease specifies that the stadium must be available for the specified use, which includes parking and accessibility to the stadium. The scope of Riot Fest raises other concerns — for instance, how noise pollution from a multistage festival could interfere with the ability of a referee to officiate the game as well as the safety of players, staff and fans coming and going to the stadium — that led the Red Stars to feel it would be impossible to host the previously scheduled game.

As of Wednesday, the Red Stars had not received any information on the logistics of how the events would be able to coexist on match day or even how Riot Fest planned to use the space.

The Red Stars have not located a new venue for the match and aren’t certain they will have an appropriate replacement on the same date. The Cubs play host to the Nationals on Sept. 21 at Wrigley Field while the White Sox will be on a six-game swing in California, leaving Guaranteed Rate Field unoccupied. Neither the Bears nor Fire plays at Soldier Field on that date, but sources told the Tribune that the Red Stars have been informed the stadium will not be available. Even if the Red Stars find an appropriate replacement venue, the cost could be prohibitively steep.

If the Red Stars are able to find a new location for the game, the club would want fees and costs to relocate and broadcast the match nationally to come from the involved parties forcing their game out of the stadium. But the club has not received any assurances that either party would contribute to mitigate these costs, sources told the Tribune.

The game holds heightened stakes for the Red Stars and the NWSL as it is slated for a national broadcast on Ion. This complicates the logistics for use of the parking lot amid the festival. Only five of the remaining Red Stars regular-season games are scheduled for a national broadcast.

“It is unfair and unfortunate to have our club put in this situation, shining a light on the vast discrepancies in the treatment of women’s professional sports versus men’s professional sports,” Leetzow said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring our players and fans have a first-rate experience on and off the pitch, and we are working diligently to find a solution that will ensure our September 21st game is a success.”

The conflict comes at a turning point for the Red Stars, who on Saturday drew a league-record 35,038 fans at Wrigley Field for a match against Bay FC.

Photos: Chicago Red Stars set NWSL attendance record at Wrigley Field

The Red Stars have played at SeatGeek since 2016. The stadium’s distance from the city center and lack of transit access have been key points of criticism for the franchise as the team continues to slip behind competitors in attendance. The Chicago Fire in 2019 paid more than $60 million to leave SeatGeek for Soldier Field.

The Red Stars’ SeatGeek lease will expire at the end of 2025. New ownership helmed by Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts has made it clear that relocating the franchise to a stadium inside the city limits is a driving goal for the organization.

Riot Fest — which will be headlined by Beck, Public Enemy, the Marley Brothers and Fall Out Boy — had been a source of contention for residents in North Lawndale since its relocation to Douglass Park in 2015, and before that with locals in Humboldt Park since 2012.

He was 86.

West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, was an NBA champion who went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010. He will be enshrined for a third time later this year as a contributor, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called West “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,” Silver said. “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.”

West was “the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him,” the Clippers said in announcing his death. West’s wife, Karen, was by his side when he died, the Clippers said. West worked for the Clippers as a consultant for the last seven years.

He was an All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons, a 12-time All-NBA selection, part of the 1972 Lakers team that won a championship, an NBA Finals MVP when the Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in 1969 — the first year that award was given out, and still the only time it went to a player on the losing team — and was selected as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

West was general manager of championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping build the “Showtime” dynasty. He also worked in the front offices of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers. Among his many highlights as an executive with the Lakers: he drafted Magic Johnson and James Worthy, then brought in Kobe Bryant and eventually Shaquille O’Neal to play alongside Bryant.

His basketball life bridged generations: West played with Elgin Baylor, whom he called “the most supportive and the greatest player of that era,” and Wilt Chamberlain. As a coach and executive, he worked with a who’s-who of NBA stars from the last 40 years: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Worthy, O’Neal, Bryant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George among them.

“I marvel at them, at the joy they brought basketball fans all over the world,” West said in 2019.

Even in the final years of his life, West was considered basketball royalty. He routinely sat courtside at Summer League games in Las Vegas, often watching many games in a day while greeting long lines of players — LeBron James among them — who would approach to shake his hand.

“The game transcends many things,” West said while attending Summer League last year. “The players change, the style of play may change, but the respect that you learn in this game never changes.”

James, on social media, offered his condolences: “Will truly miss our convos my dear friend! My thoughts and prayers goes out to your wonderful family! Forever love Jerry! Rest in Paradise my guy!” the NBA’s all-time scoring leader wrote Wednesday.

West is 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, and while the league has never confirmed that West was in fact the model for its logo — a player dribbling a ball, set against a red-and-blue background — the league has never said otherwise, either.

“While it’s never been officially declared that the logo is Jerry West,” Silver said in 2021, “it sure looks a lot like him.”

West is still the NBA Finals’ all-time leader in total points, along with field goals made and attempted as well as free throws made and attempted. He played in the title series nine times with the Lakers; his teams went 1-2 against the New York Knicks, and 0-6 against the Celtics.

“Those damn Celtics,” he often said.

West also hit one of the most famed shots in finals history, a 60-footer at the buzzer of Game 3 of the 1970 series between the Knicks and Lakers to force overtime.

Tributes from across the sports world quickly poured in Wednesday morning. The Los Angeles Dodgers released a statement calling West “an indelible figure on the Los Angeles sports landscape for more than 60 years,” and the NBA was planning a pregame tribute to West before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

“Jerry West is one of my favorite people that I had the honor to get to know in the NBA,” Miami Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said Wednesday. “He welcomed me to the league, offered advice from the first day, and asked nothing in return. He will be missed.”

Michael Jordan said he considered West “a friend and mentor — like an older brother to me.”

“I valued his friendship and knowledge,” Jordan said. “I always wished I could have played against him as a competitor, but the more I came to know him, I wish I had been his teammate. I admired his basketball insights and he and I shared many similarities to how we approached the game.”

A native of Chelyan, West Virginia, West was known as a tenacious player who was rarely satisfied with his performance. He grew up shooting at a basket nailed to the side of a shed and often shot until his fingers bled. He became the first high school player in state history to score more than 900 points in a season, averaging 32.2 points in leading East Bank High to a state title.

Basketball, he would later reveal, was his therapy.

In his memoir, “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life,” West chronicled a lifelong battle with depression. He wrote that his childhood was devoid of love and filled with anger as a result of an abusive father. He often felt worthless, and to combat that, he said he put his energy into playing the game.

West led West Virginia University — where he is still the all-time leader in scoring average — to the NCAA final in 1959, when the Mountaineers lost by one point to California.

A year after he won Olympic gold in Rome, West joined the Lakers, where he spent his entire pro playing career. He was honored as one of the league’s 50 greatest players in 1996 and when the league expanded the polling to 75 players to commemorate its 75th anniversary in 2021, West was selected again.

“You know, it never ceases to amaze me the places you can go in this world chasing a bouncing ball,” West said in 2019, when he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — by then-President Donald Trump. “My chase began in Chelyan, West Virginia, where I strung a wire basket with no net to the side of a bridge. If your shot didn’t go in, the ball rolled down a long bank and you would be chasing it forever. So, you better make it.

“I was a dreamer. My family didn’t have much, but we had a clear view of the Appalachian Mountains, and I’d sit alone on our front porch and wonder, ‘If I ever make it to the top of that mountain, what will I see on the other side?’ Well, I did make it to the other side, and my dreams have come true. I’ve been able to see the sides, thanks to that bouncing ball.”

Associated Press Writer John Raby contributed to this report