Jerry West’s relationship with the Los Angeles Lakers franchise ended poorly, which was a sore subject for the basketball legend, who died last week at the age of 86. A reporter recently delved into the subject of West’s relationship with the Lakers to explain where things went wrong.
In a column published on his subscription-based website “House of Strauss,” Ethan Strauss discussed what happened between West and the Lakers.
According to Strauss, Jeanie Buss excommunicated West from the Lakers upon her taking over the team following the 2013 death of her late father, Jerry Buss. That included Jeanie revoking the lifetime season tickets West had received from the franchise.
Strauss’ report says that Jeanie Buss was upset with West for criticizing her over her relationship with Phil Jackson, who was the Lakers’ head coach at the time. Jackson coached the Lakers over two different stints, first between 1999-2004 and again from 2005-2011. West left the Lakers after Jackson’s first season as their head coach from 1999-2000. West also had some contentious history with Jackson dating back to their playing days.
Not only was West a legendary player for the Lakers, but he later helped build the “Showtime Lakers” that won five championships. He was a front office member of the Lakers from 1979-2000 but left to work with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-2007. West wanted back with the Lakers in 2017 but he reportedly did not match Jeanie’s vision for the team.
West revealed in 2022 how upsetting it was to have his lifetime season tickets revoked by the Lakers. In 2021, the late West did not hide how upset he was over a separate snub from Jeanie Buss.
