Jerry West, The Logo, is in consideration to be the greatest Laker of all time. Not only did he put up amazing stats and lead the team to an NBA championship, but he is also the only man in history to win Finals MVP despite being on the losing team. West achieved a lot of success after retiring as a player as well and had a hand in putting the Showtime dynasty together as well as bringing Kobe Bryant to the franchise.
West’s playing career was far from ideal, though, he still holds the dubious record of having lost in the NBA Finals more than any other player. He lost 8 times at the final stage, including 6 losses to Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics. That is sure to have stung The Logo, as one of the best players ever and an ultimate competitor.
However, despite dealing with so much failure in his playing career, West never once left the Lakers, playing for 14 seasons with the same franchise. His work as a coach and an executive also came with the Lakers before he moved on to helping other franchises much later in his life after his relationship with the Lakers soured.
However, even the ultimate Laker West once considered leaving the franchise. Speaking on Audacy’s 2400Sports show Heat Check with Trysta Krick, West spoke about the only time he considered leaving the team.
“There’s one time in my career when somebody told me something that wasn’t the truth,” West said, revealing that this person just so happened to be the owner of the team. “I really felt like, ‘Why lie to me? I don’t lie to you.’ I came from West Virginia,” he said. “We trusted people.
“This was one of the things that if I would’ve been a free agent, I would’ve left for sure.
“This was over a salary – we had no agents then. This was over a contractual thing,” West said. “I said to myself ‘Why lie to me?’ when I knew that people paid to see me play. I knew they paid to see the Lakers play. We had some great players.
“I wish I would’ve had someone to represent me, but owners wouldn’t even pay attention to agents.”
The Lakers would have been in a lot of trouble back then had they ended up losing West. The franchise would surely have fallen in the pecking order. It’s also hard to tell if West would have stayed on as a coach and then an executive after he retired too. This just goes to show how the smallest things can have the biggest impacts on an entire franchise’s legacy.