Jerry West dislikes 1 aspect of ‘soft’ NBA

Mar 15, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Clippers executive board member Jerry West reacts in the first half against the Chicago Bulls at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Jerry West has a complaint about the current style of play in the NBA.

West was a guest on this week’s episode of “Podcast P with Paul George” presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment. During the lengthy episode, West, who serves as an advisor to Clippers owner Steve Balmer, discussed many topics with George. West told Paul that he advises Ballmer about changes in the game. That led West to bring up the implementation of the three-point line by the NBA in 1979 and how much it has changed the game.

West said the three-point line makes “I think a more difficult game to coach. It emphasizes a different kind of player. I think crowds have to get used to it. There’s some nights I go and it’s hard for me to watch. In this sense, I’d rather see somebody make a beautiful pass, go in and lay it up instead of four on one, some guy runs behind the three-point line and shoots a three.

“The game is soft that way today. I don’t like it. I don’t think it makes for pretty basketball. And I think, unless you have a great, great team late in the game, you’re gonna lose games, you’re taking points off the board,” West said.

West is not alone with his opinion, as another prominent figure recently shared a similar criticism.

West played from the Los Angeles Lakers from 1960-1974 and put together a Hall of Fame career. He also put together an impressive resume as an executive with the Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors and then the Clippers.

During the episode with George, West said that when the late Kobe Bryant became a free agent in 2004, Kobe told West he wanted to play for the Grizzlies. West was the GM of Memphis at the time.

“He became a free agent. Ok? And he called me and his agent then was Rob Pelinka. And so I met them in Orange County in a hotel room and he said he wanted to come to Memphis and play basketball. And I looked at him, I said, are you kidding me? And he said no, and I said, ‘Kobe, no, no. You know, it’s just you belong somewhere out here.’ And even though he would have never played there, I just want to reassure him that don’t feel like you have any obligation with me or the Grizzlies to play here and because he would have never played there, it wasn’t gonna happen.”

West was a father figure for Bryant and was devastated by the legendary player’s death in January 2020. He had advised Bryant when the Lakers guard became a free agent in 2004. Not only did West talk Bryant out of coming to play in Memphis, but he also deterred Kobe from playing for one other team.