After a career full of highlights, clutch plays and NBA Finals appearances, Jerry West obtained the name of “Mr. Clutch” and also “The Logo” (he is after all the NBA’s logo).  His exceptional play on both offense and defense have made him probably the second best shooting guard in the history of the league (after some dude that played for the Bulls whose name escapes me right now for some reason). His competitive spirit made it as such that he wanted to be the best player possible when comparing himself to others; but it also meant he despised losses.

West would soon be known by all as an unbelievable perfectionist in all facets of his life. In games, he would never tolerate less than all out effort from his teammates; but he expected even more from himself. Indeed, the Logo was always striving to play a perfect game, something he realized after his playing days was impossible.

As a coach, Jerry West struggled with handling his roster; not because they lacked talent (they did), but rather because he failed to understand why his players could not play hard all the time. Some of his harshest criticism often came at the expense of arguably the greatest center of all time: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Needless to say, if Kareem could not meet West’s expectations, no one could. And thus, that led to the end of his coaching career. With coaching now over, Jerry West turned his attention to the front office, where he became the Los Angeles Lakers general manager.

During his playing days, Mr. Clutch had always had an eye for talent and how it fit within the scheme of a team. Consequently, it only made sense for him to join the front office and handle personnel decisions.

One of the biggest transactions he participated in was the drafting of Magic Johnson. It might have seemed like the obvious choice at the time, but there was also another terrific player that had caught his sights: Sidney Moncrief.

West thought that Moncrief was the safer pick and that Magic was far too different from the norm; but with the organization pushing for Magic, that’s whom they selected.

In later years, West understood that physical gifts were important, but so too was the one thing that was hardest to measure: a player’s desire. In his book Jerry West, Roland Lazenby shares a passage illustrating this very concept in his scouting of Kobe Bryant:

“The Lakers scouting staff may have questioned Bryant’s willingness to involve teammates, but West watched him move and shoot during the workout, then saw him battle assistant coach and former Lakers defensive star Michael Cooper. There was length, there was strength, there were physical talents, but to go with them was a beautifully polished set of skills, the kind of skills that a seventeen-year-old could possess only after long hours of dedicated work. The skills themselves said much about the issue of work ethic and that hardest-to-read factor: the player’s heart.”

The interesting thing about West, was that he was such a great judge of talent, that other scouts and GMs often gravitated around him with the idea of trying to figure out which players he liked. The exercise could at times lead to success but it could also lead to the downfall of competing franchises.

John Calipari learned this the hard way in the 1996 NBA draft. He was all set to select Kobe Bryant with the eighth pick in the draft, but a phone call from West made him reconsider. Essentially, West used his charm to talk Calipari out of drafting the soon to be star, which in turn meant that he would be available for the Lakers to pick at number thirteen (the Charlotte Hornets made the pick for the Lakers in a prearranged deal: the Lakers traded Vlade Divac to Charlotte for the rights to Bryant).

Everyone associated with professional basketball seems to agree that West is as good as it gets in terms of evaluating talent. Lazenby obtained this quote from Lakers longtime broadcaster Stu Lantz:

“I don’t know if I’ve run across anybody that’s a better judge of talent than Jerry. That’s a rarity. There are a lot of people who claim to be judges of talent. They’ll draft a guy or trade for a guy, and it never pans out. But if Jerry says a guy can play, then I’ll take that to the bank.”

Keep in mind, it’s one thing to find a terrific player, but it is also another to figure out where he fits on a team. And that was the dilemma that the Lakers faced in 1982: select Dominique Wilkins or James Worthy? Wilkins had all the attributes of a superstar, but he would also need the ball in his hands to play like one. Worthy on the other hand offered a set of skills that would complement those of Abdul-Jabbar and Magic; thus the decision was made to go with Worthy who would later earn the nickname “Big Game James”.

Here is a list of the notable transactions that West engineered during his time in Los Angeles:

  • June 29, 1982: Selected James Worthy with 1st overall pick in the draft.
  • October 10,1983: Traded Eddie Jordan, Norm Nixon, a 1986 second round pick and a 1987 second round pick for Byron Scott.
  • June 18, 1985: Selected A.C. Green with the 23rd pick in the first round of the draft.
  • February 13, 1987: Traded Frank Brickowski, Petur Gudmunsson, a 1987 first round pick and a 1990 second round pick for Mycal Thompson.
  • June 27, 1989: Selected Vlade Divac with 26th pick in first round of draft.
  • June 27, 1990: Selected Elden Campbell with 27th pick in first round of draft.
  • August 6, 1990: Signed Sam Perkins as a free agent.
  • June 30, 1993: Selected George Lynch with 12th pick in first round and Nick Van Exel with 37th pick in second round of draft.
  • June 29, 1994: Selected Eddie Jones with 10th pick in draft.
  • July 11, 1996: Traded Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant.
  • July 18, 1996: Signed Shaquille O’Neal as a free agent.
  • January 10, 1997: Traded Cedric Ceballos and Rumeal Robinson for Robert Horry and Joe Kleine.
  • August 28, 1997: Signed Rick Fox as a free agent.
  • March 10, 1999: Traded Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones for B.J. Armstrong, J.R. Reid and Glen Rice.
  • October 13, 1999: Signed Ron Harper as a free agent.
  • October 20, 1999: Signed Brian Shaw as a free agent.

After a quick look at the transactions orchestrated by West, it seems clear that the man knew how to assemble talent.  But for my money, the most impressive feat he accomplished was building two dynasties basically almost two decades apart (the 1980s Lakers and the 2000s Lakers).

Longtime scout Hal Wissel offered this quote to Roland Lazenby:

“For those who know a game and truly understand it, the scouting life is a paradise. In that regard, he revolutionized the position of executive in the sport. West dug in and did the nitty-gritty wok, loved doing it and he would continue to do this his entire executive life. Whereas other GMs tended to stay in their offices, West remained in the field, intensely studying the game […]”

Isn’t this the kind of person you would want in charge of player personnel movement for your favorite team?

As luck would have it, he is part of the Warriors now…

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