West Virginia basketball and Los Angeles Lakers icon Jerry West will release a memoir called West By West: My Charmed, Tormented Life this week, and it doesn't sound like it'll be beach reading. West describes his struggles with depression, and his abuse at the hands of his father, from whom he protected himself with a shotgun.
↵↵↵In the HBO interview, West describes his father beating him with a belt, saying, "It was brutal."
↵He says he never knew what would set his father off. It wasn't until his father hit his sister that West found the courage to stand up to the man that had abused him ...
↵When West's father died of a heart attack, he attended the funeral. He cries in the interview as he talks about wondering whether his father would be proud of him and his achievements.
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It sounds like offseasons were extremely tough on West, particularly in seasons that ended with NBA Finals losses to the Celtics.
↵An interview with West will appear on Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel on Tuesday.
↵For more on WVU basketball, check out the Smoking Musket.