Jerry West, the architect of several championship teams for the Los Angeles Lakers, has expressed his interest in returning to the purple-and-gold organization a year after helping the Golden State Warriors’ front-office pull off one of the greatest offseason coups in NBA history.
Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register reported that West is open to joining the Lakers’ front-office in a consultant role after his contract with the Golden State Warriors expires this summer.
Vaunted resume
The 78-year old legend has the resume to impress any team with his front office accomplishments, especially when rebuilding teams like the Lakers.
After bringing a title to the franchise as a player, West climbed his way to the top of the Lakers’ front office, working as a scout and then a general manager. With him at the helm, the Lakers achieved the greatest stretch in the franchise’s storied history as the "Showtime Lakers" won five NBA championships in the ‘80s.
Several years later, West brought Shaquille O’Neal and traded for Kobe Bryant on draft night. These two players, along with the hiring of Phil Jackson in 1999, formed the backbone of the Lakers’ three-peat championship run from 2000 to 2002.
After his tenure with the Lakers, the legend of West’s golden touch lived on after transforming the Memphis Grizzlies into a perennial playoff contender.
West was also a big part of the Warriors’ success recently. Aside from blocking a potentially disastrous deal that would have sent Klay Thompson to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love in 2014, West was instrumental in signing superstar Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016.
Not so fast, Jerry!
Unfortunately, despite West's interest in the job, Heisler reported that the Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka are apparently not interested in bringing back the Lakers legend.
The Lakers' ownership, headed by Jeanie Buss, has the utmost confidence that Magic and Pelinka will pull it off.
“These days the Lakers don’t even do no-brainers, like inviting Jerry West back in a consultant’s role like the one he has with the Warriors. A Lakers insider told me it’s not happening...even though the Lakers are aware West would love to be asked back,” Heisler opined in his recent article on OC Register.
The Lakers enter the free-agency season with a projected salary cap of $16M to $18M, which is not enough to sign a max player these days. However, the front office is hopeful that they can land a top-3 pick in this year’s NBA draft, where prospects like Lonzo Ball of UCLA, Josh Jackson of Kansas, and Markelle Fultz of Washington are available.
