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Jerry West: I would've joined the Knicks if I'd been a free agent

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Given some of the blowback Kevin Durant received this summer for leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors, it was interesting to hear Jerry West talk about his own free-agent desires as a player and a possible move that could have been viewed as heresy at the time.

West said this week that back during his playing days in the '60s and '70s, he wanted to leave the Los Angeles Lakers for the New York Knicks.

"There was a point in my career ... where if I would've had a choice, and if the Knicks would've been able to assimilate me on their team, I would've left," the man who inspired the NBA's logo told "The Jim Rome Show."

" ... I was so unhappy with then-owner Jack (Kent) Cooke. I wasn't happy with him at all. I loved the players I was playing with, obviously loved Los Angeles, and I loved our fans. And I guess good fortune kept me in Los Angeles because we did not have a choice or the ability to move."

As West alluded to, he couldn't have changed teams without being traded if he wanted to. The NBA did not adopt a form of free agency until 1976, two years after he played his last pro game. The league didn't have unrestricted free agency until 1988.

For all the criticism Durant has received for joining a team he couldn't beat on the court, a similar thing could be said about West with his Knicks remark. Despite being one of the greatest basketball players of all time, West only won one NBA championship; his Lakers squads lost eight Finals, including two to the famed Knicks teams of Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, and Walt Frazier.

West, now an executive with the Warriors, helped recruit Durant this summer. He reiterated that any anger towards the Golden State organization is mere jealousy regarding a system that was agreed to by 30 team owners.

"I see everyone blaming the Warriors, I see them blaming Kevin Durant," West said. "I think the blame should be on the owners themselves. They agreed to a deal with the players' association, every one of them agreed to it. And now, a significant player leaves, it's a blow to them, obviously. Blame the rules, more than anything. He was allowed a choice."

- With h/t to FOX Sports

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