Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West is clearly not a fan of his former team, who have made a point of making sure he doesn't work for the franchise in any shape or form.
In 2017, West made it clear he wanted to return to the Lakers in a front-office role, but they showed no interest in doing so. Instead, the Clippers brought him on board and reaped the rewards. Then two summers later, LA let go his son, Ryan West, from a scouting role, and West believes it had to do with the Lakers' grudge towards him.
The rocky relationship rose to another level last April, though, when Jeanie Buss left him off the list of the top five most influential Lakers of all time, despite arguably being the greatest player to ever suit up for the organization.
But, this was ultimately the last straw.
For West, though, the final straw came when the Lakers repealed the lifetime season tickets he said the late Dr. Buss had promised him so many years ago. Without any warning or explanation, his wife, Karen, received a text message from the Lakers last season informing her that the family’s seats for their games would no longer be granted.
“It was a cold phone text to my wife,” West recalled. “No one had the nerve to call me, but that’s how petty they are, OK? And I love the Lakers, OK? I love to see them do well. It’s great for basketball. 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. And there’s a couple of people over there — not Jeanie — but there’s a couple of people over there that, uh … I don’t get it. I don’t. … I always had a great relationship with Jeanie — at least I thought I did. I don’t know where it is now.”
Yikes. What did Jerry West ever do to the Lakers to deserve this type of treatment? After all, he's the man behind the logo and very influential. It's a shame Los Angeles has treated him in such a way, but he's making sure to make his voice heard on the matter.
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