Lakers did Jerry West dirty despite orchestrating multiple NBA championships
Jerry West built the Los Angeles Lakers into a championship winning juggernaut, only for Jeanie Buss to send him packing.
Follow Us
Jeanie Buss and the Los Angeles Lakers did not treat Jerry West well
Jerry West was one of the best players in NBA history. Along with that, he was also one of the best executives to ever manage a team. Already inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player, this year, he will be inducted into the Hall as an executive, months after he passed away. Some of his highlights as an executive was to build the championship winning juggernaut with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The same team, however, alienated him later on. As recorded by unpublished interviews with ESPN, writer Baxter Holmes revisits how Jerry West viewed the franchise later in his life.
I almost wish that I had never played or worked for them.
Jerry West told ESPN
This was coming from someone who spent thirty-five years of his life with the team that drafted him. It must have pained him that much to say something like this—all because of a turn of events towards the end of his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The legend essentially built the Lakers into one of the most winningest teams in the NBA. Starting from the Magic Johnson led ‘Showtime’ dynasty, to trading for the late Kobe Bryant and signing Shaquille O’Neal, his efforts helped bring eight NBA titles to the purple and gold.
Jerry West’s feud with the Lakers escalated after his son was let go in 2019, which West believed was due to his own fallout with the team’s leadership. The Lakers later revoked his long-held season tickets
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 10, 2024
"I almost wish, that I had never played or worked for them."
(Via… pic.twitter.com/dqXpQdU2nP
But his name is only featured for six of them, as the Lakers won the 2001 and 2002 titles after he departed. That departure came about after Phil Jackson‘s relationship with Jeanie Buss ended up with West losing a power struggle. Ironically, West hired Jackson to coach the Lakers three-peat and lost to him and was forced to leave.
Jeanie Buss and Lakers ill-treated Jerry West and his family
Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss eventually ended their relationship in 2016. After that, it would have been right if the Lakers governor mended her relationship with Jerry West. But it seems denying him season tickets was not as big a worry as what she and the team did in 2019.
The legend’s son, Ryan West was director of player personnel with the Los Angeles Lakers. After ten years of service, they fired him toward the end of July that year. What would normally seem to be a decision based out of the fact that he had no further room to grow, West senior felt otherwise.
They let him go because of me.
Jerry West said
He felt his son was collateral damage after he orchestrated the signing of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers—players the Lakers were targeting to team up alongside LeBron James.
Jerry West knew that his son faced the fallout of the friction between himself and the Los Angeles Lakers. For a person who practically built the competitive aura of this franchise, it pained him enough to regret ever playing for the franchise.
Stay Updated!
Joseph Varghese
(2265 Articles Published)