Last month, Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss revealed her top 5 Lakers ever on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's “All The Smoke” podcast. Jerry West meanwhile, was not happy to see his name missing.
Buss picked Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Phil Jackson, Magic Johson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All legends without a doubt. But West, who won a title with the Lakers in 1972 and also worked in the front office from 1982-2000, believes he should've been included.
“I saw the other day Jeanie Buss made a statement, the five most important Lakers, one of the most offensive things I’ve ever heard in my life. I was there a lot of times, had a lot of success,” West told Peter Vescey on the Hoop Du Jour podcast this week. “Be curious to know if they would have had that success if I hadn’t been there.”
“And I don’t ever take credit for stuff, I don’t. When I was around, maybe I was just a good luck charm,” the former Lakers GM continued. “But I do know, that when this thing fell apart, there was a lot of years where they weren’t very good.”
West was also a key part in acquiring Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets on Draft night in 1996. Before Kobe's arrival, there were a few years where the Lakers struggled in the early '90s. What if he never ended up in LA? West should definitely receive more credit for bringing arguably the greatest player the franchise has ever seen to town.
West is also the one who has literally graced the NBA logo for years as well. It's not a huge deal that West was excluded from Buss' Lakers list, but clearly, he has done a lot for this organization, both on and off the court.
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