After working for the Lakers for 40 years, West's relationship with the team splintered beyond repair. 'I almost wish,' he told ESPN, 'that I had never played or worked for them.'
) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times.midnight on the evening of Feb. 27, 2020, and Jerry West was sitting in his car, parked outside his Bel-Air home. He was contemplating retirement."Sometimes, I just think not being involved might be good for me."The subject would come up every year, maybe during the season, or perhaps in the offseason.
West knew Bryant was special, knew the Lakers had to acquire him by any means necessary and relentlessly pushed to make it happen. The two remained close for decades, forging a relationship in which West considered Bryant to be nothing short of a son. On Sunday, West will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor, honoring his executive roles with the Lakers and
During that tenure, first as a player, then a coach, then an executive, West had helped lift the organization to historic heights before this coldest of wars. In the years since, he had hoped for reconciliation. Then, in 2019, after his family became involved, one of the most famous Lakers in history shared a once-unthinkable sentiment, one he'd repeat privately and publicly in the years ahead.Inside the Clippers, there was jubilation. Inside the Lakers, there was frustration.
"I don't know if you people like to read," he said."I hated school because I didn't want to read. All I do is read now, but I read to learn." For the past few weeks, West and his family had checked the mail for a delivery that had arrived every year during the preseason for almost two decades: four season tickets to all 41 Lakers home games at Staples Center.
Some Lakers executives were shocked when they learned about the situation, which began circling through the organization. Kurt Rambis, a player on the 1980s Showtime era teams West helped construct, had served as the team's interim head coach in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. He had posted a 24-13 record after taking over for a fired Del Harris, and the Lakers reached the Western Conference semifinals.
Two years later, West joined the Grizzlies as their general manager, then the Warriors in 2011 as a consultant. Throughout, though, he privately rooted for the Lakers, sources close to him said. Then, in 2017, West began to hope not only for reconciliation but also for a reunion. That February, the Lakers overhauled their front office in dramatic fashion, with Jeanie firing her brother Jim and longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak.
The dichotomy of the two men was striking: Ballmer front and center, pumping his fists and gesturing wildly in excitement; West stoic, almost obscured from view. Sometimes, Ballmer would walk over to West and seek his opinion. West never slept well, even as a child, always possessed by a seemingly endless reservoir of energy and restlessness. In bed, the game didn't stray. Ideas, questions and memories poured in, keeping him awake for hours."Even now, I dream of games," he said in February 2020.
But the pain West felt from so much of his life never strayed. In his Bel Air office, he said, he kept a Christmas card on his desk. It was the card the Bryant family gave him in December 2019, one month before Bryant died. West saw that card each morning as he read the newspaper, the smiling faces of Bryant and his family, looking back at him, the pain following him like a shadow.
He was excited about their plans for a new arena."It's going to be special," he said. He offered effusive praise for Ballmer."He is just a great guy. And he's so philanthropic, and his wife is just like him. They are such givers." He would sit with Ballmer and it would remind him of time with Dr. Buss, when the two would talk for hours about trying to build the Lakers into something special.West enjoyed his time away, but that familiar itch returned.
His No. 44 lines the wall of the team's practice facility. Before tipoff at the Lakers' first preseason game this past Friday in Palm Desert, the team recognized West's achievements and held a moment of silence. The Lakers will wear a commemorative No. 44 band on the left shoulder of their uniforms this season. On opening night, an Oct. 22 matchup against the, the Lakers will hold an in-game celebration of West's legacy while gifting a No.
He began with his first meeting with West in July 2014, two months after Ballmer bought the Clippers for $2 billion. Ballmer had traveled to Las Vegas for the NBA's annual summer league showcase, and during one of the many meetings held there between team and league officials, he saw West, who was still with the Warriors.Ballmer laughed.
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