West: Shaq trade had to be Buss' call
Monday, September 20, 2004
By Marc Stein
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=1885381
Jerry West is understandably reluctant to say too much about the dissolution
of the potentially dynastic duo he assembled in Los Angeles. Strange as it
sounds, even as he readies for his third season in Memphis, the Lakers aren't
West's team any more.
So ...
Grizzlies president Jerry West watched his team improve from 28 wins during
the 2002-2003 season to 50 wins last season.
West betrays little emotion when he's asked how it feels to see Shaquille
O'Neal and Kobe Bryant split up, simply offering that "maybe it was time for
a change" given the obvious disharmony in Lakerland. The deepest he'll go on
the subject, conveyed during a visit to Dallas for a speaking engagement, is
that trading Shaq -- still the most dominant individual force in today's game
-- had to be a Jerry Buss call ... even though Shaq insists on slamming West
protege Mitch Kupchak for making the deal.
"This was more than a decision based upon on a player leaving for being
disgruntled," West said, undoubtedly referring to O'Neal's demands for a
nine-figure contract extension. "A lot of this was financial for sure."
"This," West added, "will probably be the biggest risk (Buss) has ever taken."
Plenty of Angelenos, mind you, would tell you that letting West go was Buss'
riskiest-ever dice roll. At worst it's No. 2 behind the moves seen this summer,
when Phil Jackson was shooed back to Montana and O'Neal was exiled to Miami
to put the ball -- and the whole franchise -- in Kobe's hands.
Or is it?
West shared that Buss really had no choice.
"I'm unbelievably proud of my years with the Lakers," said West, who left them
in the summer of 2000, after Shaq and Kobe combined for their first of three
straight championships, halting a drought of 11 seasons without one and giving
West his seventh championship as L.A.'s team-builder.
"It just got to the point that I couldn't stand to win any more," West
continued. "It was so much pressure; I couldn't take it any more. I retired,
and I wasn't going to work any more."
The perception remains that West walked away partly because he had been
underpaid for years, but also because Buss had ceded control of the
organization to Jackson, who had begun dating Jerry's daughter, Jeanie. The
perception also persists that West unretired when Grizzlies owner Michael
Heisley made such a rich offer that he had to accept.
Both perceptions camouflage a good chunk of the real story. West was plagued
by an irregular heartbeat around the time of the first Shaq-and-Kobe ring and
stepped away from the stress and pressure he kept heaping onto himself to get
healthy. After a year away, Le Logo eventually started feeling better and
started missing the job.
"Life ain't worth a darn unless you have challenges," West said, recounting
how his appetite for GM'ing gradually returned.
"I wanted to go where they had the worst team in the league. So I decided to
go (to Memphis). But I also will tell you it's probably been the most
gratifying two years I've ever spent in my life. With the Lakers, we expected
to win. Down there they expected to lose, and we've changed that."
(下略)
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