Jerry West Offended by Jeanie Buss Comments

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/jerry-west-upset-jeanie-buss-list-lakers

OK, I get it if as a knee-jerk reaction, Jerry West was offended that Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss left him off of her list of top 5 Most important Lakers. It goes without saying that West’s contributions to the Lakers as both a player and as a vital member of front office general management should give him the utmost consideration as a top five most important Laker.

That being said, I watched that entire All the Smoke interview and Jeanie was put on the spot when asked to form this top five list. She wasn’t really given a whole lot of context, and she was really a bit flustered by the question because she didn’t have a lot of time to take all things into consideration. It was a very spur of the moment answer from her.

Considering how many great and important Laker players, coaches, owners, front office execs, etc, have played a major role in the success of the organization, it was almost impossible for her to answer that question without somebody feeling like they were snubbed on a her top 5 picks. I mean, she didn’t even pick her own dad, and I don’t see how you can form a top five list of most important Laker figures without including Dr. Jerry Buss. She also included LeBron James in her top five, and we all know he doesn’t belong in the top five most important Lakers; I love what LeBron has done for us recently, but let’s be real here. So, it’s clear to me that she was just flustered by the question, that it was very much a loaded question, and she didn’t give the best answer that she could have had she been given more context and more time to consider her response.

Furthermore, to defend Jeanie here, it’s again important to consider that the context of the question was just not very clear. It seems likely to me that in that brief moment when she was asked the question, she was just thinking about players and coaches, and not really thinking about the front office staff, executive management, owners, etc.

Now back to Jerry West. I love everything that this guy has done for the Lakers in his long and tenured history as a key member of the organization. It’s disappointing that he is so offended by Jeanie’s comments, and the fact that he chose to use a public platform to voice how offended he is just goes to show you that the state of his relationship with the Lakers organization is in a very dark place right now. For me, that’s just very sad to see considering all he has done for the Lakers over the years.

Is Jerry West sort of coming off here as a bitter old man? To some degree, yes, it does seem that way but I can understand his point of view as well. I sincerely hope that Jeanie Buss, if she hasn’t already, picks up the phone and calls Jerry to apologize. She should clarify where her mind was at when she made that top 5 list and that she really did not mean to offend him or any other Laker great. If I were her, I would simply explain to Jerry that the context of the question was just not clear enough and so she wasn’t considering the Laker figures who contributed so much to the team in positions of the organization other than players or coaches.

I mean, you can make a strong case that Jerry West isn’t in the list of top five most important Laker PLAYERS; obviously there have been a ton of vitally important Laker players who have come through the organization over the decades. But, you can make a case that he belongs in the top 5 there as well. That’s more debatable, however, but in terms of overall importance and contributions not only as a player but as a general manager, Jerry West should be in the top five most important Lakers, without question. And I really hope that Jeanie agrees with that, and tells Jerry exactly that. It just seems long overdue for the Lakers organization to try and mend their relationship with Jerry West.

What do you guys think? Was this an intentional snub by Jeanie Buss? Is Jerry West going a bit too far here, and using what may already be an existing grudge with the Lakers organization to be even more offended than he otherwise should be? Curious to hear your thoughts.

I am not old enough to have witnessed the great Jerry West, but there is something about him that bothers me. He seems almost "anti-lakers" in his discussions. I get it, he is affiliated with another team, but he rubs me the wrong way. I may be wrong.

Deleted - duplicate post

I’m about 40 years old, and I’ve been a diehard Laker fan for 25+ years, but Jerry West’s accomplishments as a Laker player are still considerably before my time. My dad remembers him a lot more clearly because my dad is a Lakers fan since the 1960s; he remembers Jerry West’s playing career vividly as well as everything else that followed. However, for me, what West has done for the Lakers as a general manager, well that’s a completely different story. When you talk about the greatest professional sports general managers in history, there isn’t a conversation that doesn’t include Jerry West. There is no Lakers Shaq and Kobe dynasty without Jerry West. Period. He was also the Lakers general manager for the vast majority of the 1980’s “Showtime” era Lakers, so he gets credit for his part in a lot of the Franchise’s success there as well. Unfortunately, something went very wrong between Jerry West and the Lakers organization somewhere along the way because I agree with you, Angeluus. Jerry West by all of his somewhat negative comments or negative sentiments towards the Lakers organization over the last few years is something that rubs Laker fans the wrong way, particularly those fans who didn’t live through any of Jerry West’s past successes as a Laker great, and don’t have that same connection to him. The fact that Jerry West is also with the Clippers organization doesn’t help his cause either in terms of popularity with Laker fans, as many of us, myself included consider the Clippers to be the enemy in the modern NBA climate. Bottom line, I just hope that after all this bad blood, Jeanie Buss does something to try and bridge the gap between the Lakers organization and Jerry West. Whether or not he’s with the clippers now....

Jerry West's real gripe was with her father Dr. Buss. I think it had to do something with money with Jerry was a GM or something for the Lakers. Not a big deal to me. Lakers fans know what Jerry means to the Lakers......It's all good. Make no mistake about it, Jeanie is a pitbull in a skirt. She's her father's daughter. So it is what it is.

That’s interesting, userpete. I didn’t know there was any potential beef between Dr. Buss and Jerry West. The revered Dr. Buss passed away many years ago, and it seems strange that Jerry West would hold a grudge for this long.

You have to wonder if whatever Jerry West’s issues are with the Lakers, it goes more deeply than gripes over money. But, your guess is as good as mine. Whatever the problem, I just hope that Jeanie makes some kind of effort to bridge that gap. Jerry is as much Laker as any great one who’s ever represented the franchise.

I believe Dr. Buss didn't believe in paying GM's or Coaches a lot of many and when he paid Phil Jackson all that money, Jerry got pissed. But as you mentioned, there's probably more to it than that.

That’s exactly what caused the rift. The late great Buss had promised him a pay bonus to the tune of a mil, if he managed to land Shaq. Jerry was miffed that Buss went back on his word once they acquired Shaq.

According to him it was not so much the money, but a matter of ethics and principles which were blatantly violated. Can't fault J.West entirely out here. Plus Phil used to repeatedly insult West during team meetings and used to ask him to leave the room in front of the players. According to several reports West had expressed his displeasure about Phil’s association with Jeannie. He felt that would be a major distraction to the team’s objectives. Therefore there are some deep rooted grudges from both camps. Lol.

For me personally, J.West is and will always remain a Laker legend. I don’t necessarily approve some of his recent exploits, but there wouldn’t be 17 banners hanging inside staples without his association.

I do not care for what West has done to try and undermine the Lakers. He has gone to other teams to try and over throw the Laker dynasty several times. That is not being a Laker Loyalists at all. He was behind the Kawhi trade going to the Clippers instead of the Lakers. Money from the Clippers owner has corrupted his mind and money was worth more to him then loyalty.

And some wonder why he isn't still associated with the Lakers and went to the enemy. He's been dissed repeatedly over the years and finally had enough. I for one can't blame him. Read up on his legacy if you're too young to know. Granted there are a lot of great names to choose from, and in reality a top 5 is impossible really. Different teams/generations etc. But leaving West off is like leaving Wooden off the UCLA greats list. Shame on her for not knowing or thinking about that. On the spot or not. Or she should have said top....

No, he's just good at his job, wherever it is.

Just wondering if the late great Elgin Baylor and Kareem Abdul Jabbar are also looked at in a similar light as West, for their association with the Clippers. KAJ was an assistant coach with them in 2000 while Baylor held a prestigious executive position (GM) with the LAC front office for 22 yrs.

Jerry West: TRAITOR!