Introduction
Sometimes even children of famous parents don’t make a name for themselves until they get into a relationship with someone else whose name has been brought to the headlines. One such is the son of the NBA legend Jerry West, who remained mostly unknown until his marriage to famous golf player Michelle Wie.
So, who is Jonnie West, Michelle Wie’s husband, and a rising name in the basketball field?
Early life and Education
Jonnie West was born on 18 May 1988 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
Michelle Wie is officially off the market! She got engaged over the weekend to Jonnie West, son of NBA legend Jerry West. (📷: Instagram/@TheMichelleWie)
Posted by Golf Digest on Sunday, March 10, 2019
His father is the famous American basketball executive and former “Los Angeles Lakers” player of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Jerome “Jerry” West, and his mother is Jerry’s second and current spouse, Karen West. His uncles were David West and Charles West. He has a biological brother, Ryan, and three half-brothers, Mark, David and Michael, to his parent’s first wife Martha Jane Kane. Jonnie’s ethnicity is white and his star sign is Taurus.
Jonnie attended Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee USA – he grew up watching his father play basketball, and at a young age decided to follow in his footsteps.
He graduated from West Virginia University in 2010 with Degree in Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management, and during this time he also played as a guard for the “West Virginia Mountaineers”, the college basketball team, and achieved prominent success, proving that this sport is in his genes. The following year he got his Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the same University, and quickly after that he took the final steps towards establishing a career of his own.
Career
Apart from playing the sport, Jonnie decided to turn his career towards management in basketball, and started under former sports agent, Arn Tellem, at “Wasserman Media Group”, and right after he worked with the “Warrior’s G-League” team director of basketball operations from Santa Cruz.
The big moment for his career was when he got the chance to meet the “Golden State Warriors” during their visit to Los Angeles. He observed their management, focused of becoming an NBA General Manager himself, and learned a lot from this experience.
In 2014 Jonnie was promoted to Associate General Manager of the NBA G league team “Santa Cruz Warriors” from California. As a member of golfing “TPC Stonebrae Country Club”, he also helped Stephen Curry, one of the bigger players in the team, to achieve an “Impressive 71” during the golfing tournament in 2017. West stepped in as Curry’s caddie instead of Bryant Barr, and the rest is history.
In August 2018, West was appointed the Director of Basketball Operations for the “Golden State Warriors” in Oakland, California.
Relationship with Michelle Wie
On Sunday, 10th March 2019, Jonnie West proposed to his girlfriend, Michelle Sung Wie, during a private ceremony. The engagement was announced on Wie’s official Instagram page, with the caption: ‘My person for life’. The engagement came as a surprise since both of them kept their relationship entirely private until January of the same year and it still isn’t revealed when the couple began dating.
Five months after going public with the engagement, the couple tied the knot in August 2019, in a big ceremony held in Los Angeles. The two were surrounded by both members of “Golden State Warriors” and LPGA players. Unlike the beginning of their relationship, the wedding was publicized on Wie’s Instagram.
Michelle Wie is a professional golfer who first came to notice when she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship at the age of 10. She then became the youngest winner of the US Women’s Amateur Public Links, and the youngest person to qualify for an LPGA Tour event, and the youngest female to go against men in an PGA Tour event at the age of 14.
Now she plays on the LPGA Tour, and has a prominent sports career. However, after a year-old injury to her wrist got worse in 2019, she had to put her professional life on hold, and to withdraw from the HSBC Women’s World Championship
Personal Life
West always struggled trying to get out of his father’s shadow. In an interview for TheAtlethic.com about him caddying for Curry during the golf tournament, he said: ‘I’ve always tried to do things not being his son. It’s impossible to avoid. It is. It’s about embracing it and knowing how to use it to your advantage. I’ve learned so much from him, not only because he’s my dad but because I spent so much time around him.’ Jonnie is also featured in his father’s memoir entitled “West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life”.
His favorite actors are Vin Diesel and Jennifer Lopez.
His favorite dish is anything from Italian cuisine.
Jonnie and his spouse currently live in their $3 million mansion in San Francisco, California. Their 2,938 square-foot home is near Twin Peaks and has five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Despite both of them being public figures, the two are trying to keep their private life somewhat hidden from the paparazzi’s thirsty eyes.
Net worth
His father, Jerry West, has an estimated net worth of $55 million. Compared to this, Jonnie’s earnings are much smaller, and his net worth is estimated at around $750,000 – but this difference shouldn’t be a problem, as Jonnie has just truly started his career, and his time to shine is yet to come. Also, he himself stated that he is fairly satisfied with the amount of money he makes.
Physical characteristics
Jonnie is a Caucasian male with short dark hair and brown eyes. As most basketball players, he is tall, standing at 6ft 3ins (190cm) – although just two inches taller than his spouse, who is 6ft 1in (185cm) – and weighs around 187lbs (85kgs). His body measurements are 42-32-37, with his biceps size standing at 16 inches. His US shoe size is 12.
