WASHINGTON — President Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom to the former N.B.A. great Jerry West on Thursday, the second time in two weeks that the president has honored a long-retired standout from a league whose current generation of stars is known for refusing to visit his White House.

Mr. Trump called the former Los Angeles Lakers star “a legend” who made “plays that will be remembered for forever — I know many of them.”

Known by the nickname “The Logo” — a photograph of him was used a model for the N.B.A.’s silhouette logo — Mr. West was named an all-star in each of his 14 seasons, all with the Lakers, and was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980. He won one championship as a player and eight more as a basketball executive.

The Oval Office ceremony took place only two weeks after the president awarded the medal to the former Boston Celtics star Bob Cousy, a 13-time N.B.A. all-star during the 1950s and 1960s who is worshiped as one of Boston’s greatest sports heroes. As Mr. Trump noted on Thursday, Mr. West and Mr. Cousy also played against each other.