Jerry West: 'My relationship with the Lakers is horrible'
Despite nearly 40 years of contributing toward Los Angeles Lakers greatness, NBA legend Jerry West laments being so closely associated with a franchise he feels has not shown due appreciation for his efforts as a player, coach, and longtime front office executive.
"One disappointing thing (about my career) is that my relationship with the Lakers is horrible," West told The Athletic's Sam Amick. "I still don't know why. And at the end of the day, when I look back, I say, 'Well, maybe I should have played somewhere else instead of with the Lakers, where someone would have at least appreciated how much you give, how much you cared.'"
West, 83, departed the Lakers' front office after the team won the 2000 championship. He spent a number of years as general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-07, then served as an advisor to the Golden State Warriors from 2011-17. Since 2017, West has been an executive board member of the Los Angeles Clippers - the Lakers' in-town rival.
West's No. 44 jersey was retired in 1983, and he received a statue outside what is now Crypto.com Arena in 2011. The NBA as a whole has essentially paid homage to West for more than half a century; it's the 14-time All-Star's silhouette that has been incorporated into the league's logo since 1969.
Still, West paints the picture of a nonexistent relationship with the team. He detailed one episode in which the organization informed his family that the free Lakers tickets for life, previously promised to them by the late longtime owner Dr. Jerry Buss, would no longer be honored.
"It was a cold phone text to my wife," West said. "No one had the nerve to call me, but that’s how petty they are, OK?
"And I love the Lakers, OK? ... I'm proud of everything that happened when I was there. I'm proud of everything that happened when I wasn't there — the positives. But sometimes you feel like you're discarded, like a piece of trash."
West clarified that he believed he and current Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, Dr. Buss' daughter, were always on good terms - though he did not know the current state of their relationship.
In light of the the friction between the two sides - both publicly and private - can West's relationship with the Lakers ever be restored?
"No, it's too late; it's too late," he told The Athletic. "I don't need to do that, OK? I really don't need (it). It's just (bothersome) how people change so much. And I don't understand it, but it's fine. It's fine."