Lakers owner Jeanie Buss HUMILIATED legend Jerry West to support then-boyfriend Phil Jackson

Jeanie Buss has LeBron James to thank for one NBA title in 11 years of her leading the franchise.

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss HUMILIATED legend Jerry West to support then-boyfriend Phil Jackson

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss excommunicated legend Jerry West after her father Jerry West's death to support boyfriend Phil Jackson

The late Jerry West was instrumental in helping the Los Angeles Lakers be the best team in the NBA for a long time. His work with the franchise netted six championships and his imprint on the squad went on to deliver four more. However, all that legendary work was thrown out of the window when he had to depart the team. Now it has recently been reported that owner Jeanie Buss‘ decisions to favor then-boyfriend Phil Jackson led to the legend’s exit.

The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss published a series of articles surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers and their search for their next head coach. In one of the articles, he wrote this about what transpired between Buss and Jerry West:

After Jerry Buss died, Jeanie Buss inherited the team and wholly excommunicated Jerry West from the franchise, even taking his season tickets. According to sources, the bitterness started back when West was critical of Jeanie Buss’ relationship with then Laker coach Phil Jackson. Phil won that particular battle, and ultimately the power struggle with West.
Ethan Strauss wrote

This suggests that a power struggle was at play in the Lakers. Jeanie Buss as the owner, used her powers to eventually win the battle.

FS Video

Ever since the Lakers last won an NBA title in 2010, former players and fans wanted Jerry West back at the franchise. But little did they know that Buss excommunicated West. Even though he wanted to come back, it seemed the franchise wanted to go in a different direction.

The actual reasons for it are coming out now. Jeanie Buss humiliated Jerry West enough to make him cut all ties with the Lakers – all in the quest to let her then partner Phil Jackson get control.

Jeanie Buss has one championship to show in 11 years

After Jerry Buss passed away in 2013, Jeanie Buss became the governor for the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, she has managed to keep the Lakers in the limelight. However, she only has one NBA title to show for more than a decade’s worth of work. That title came courtesy of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

However, one can argue that the all-time leading scorer moved to Hollywood to primarily grow his businesses. More importantly, he also wanted to retire with the most storied franchise in the NBA. Had he not taken those steps, it could be argued that Jeanie Buss would have no championship to show for.

Now that the Boston Celtics have taken over as the winningest franchise in the league, the loyal fans of the purple and gold will be demanding her to return their bragging rights. In retrospect, it seems if Jeanie Buss had not strained her relationship with Jerry West, he could have helped the team achieve more until his death.

In case you missed: