3:37pm: West is “very intrigued” by the idea of working with the Clippers, a source tells Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
12:00pm: While West’s level of interest in joining the Clippers remains unclear, he has already held talks with Rivers and team owner Steve Ballmer, Stein reports (via Twitter).
7:56am: When the Lakers overhauled their front office earlier this year, they reportedly didn’t show any real interest in bringing Jerry West back into the fold. However, that’s not the case for the other team in Los Angeles. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, the Clippers are interested in luring West away from the Warriors.
League sources tell Stein that the Clippers would want to hire West as a consultant, which is essentially the role he currently holds in Golden State. Doc Rivers is the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, with Lawrence Frank also holding a key role in the team’s front office, so if West were to join the group, it would be as a complementary voice, rather than to supplant L.A.’s current execs.
While West was said to have some interest in getting involved with the Lakers earlier this year, it’s not clear if his level of interest in the Clippers would be as high. According to Stein, teams have made similar runs at West in the past, with little success. Additionally, Warriors owner Joe Lacob has confirmed that his club wants to extend West’s contract, so Golden State won’t let him get away without a fight.
Still, if the 79-year-old West is seeking a greater challenge at this point in his career, joining the Clippers’ front office would certainly qualify. The Warriors – 12-0 in the postseason and the favorites in the Finals – already have a stacked roster and fully expect their stars to re-sign this summer, while the Clippers appear to be at a crossroads, with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and J.J. Redick facing free agency.
Why the Lakers have not shown more interest in bringing West back is baffling. He is exactly what they need; a sage hand in an otherwise very inexperienced front office.
Several reasons why the Lakers didn’t show more interest in West.
1. He’s 79 years old
2. Lakers just reworked their entire front office, hiring Magic Johnson & Rob Pelinka.
3. Hiring West would be more of a symbolic move than a functional one.
As far as the Clippers, I doubt if West would take on a role with the rival team. He is a Laker through & through and it would be basically pointless at this stage of his life & career to join the perennial losers, The Clips, unless it was all about $$$, which he shouldn’t need.
Why would he leave? He helped build a perennial contender and going to the Clippers would be basically starting from scratch. Plus he is 79. The Clippers are a team in disarray. They have never done a thing with their current “core” and their window has passed.
That’s why. If he wants one more team before he’s done, he has an oppurtunity to potentially start the Clippers from scratch. The Warriors are set long term, and there’s not much else he can do there. He’ll always know he helped build that team, and he may want to move on to another one.
Overrated> Doc Rivers! The clippers had their chance. Time to get out LA. That’s Lakers Town!!!!
build a decent team and nobody in la is even talking about the clippers
If you could buy the Clippers, to which city would you move them?
because imagine the resume boost he would get if he turned the clippers into a team that makes it past the second round
He can’t be worried about his resume if he stays with GS it means he’s basically retired and if he goes somewhere else it’ll be his last job
i’m not saying he should be but imagine what it would be to be the first man to bring a championship caliber team to the clippers
Man, if he were younger I’d be begging James Dolan to throw a boat load of Knicks cash at Jerry West. Every thing he touches turns to gold as an executive and he’s well worth the money. Instead we got Phil Jackson….
Im sorry….