Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West will now be working for the “other” Los Angeles team.
West is leaving his role as a consultant for the Golden State Warriors to join the Los Angeles Clippers in a similar role, Sports Illustrated reported.
West, 79, will aim to help the Clippers, who have a big summer ahead of them. Stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin can become free agents and the Clippers have failed to make it to the conference finals with them together.
He is leaving the Warriors because “sometimes you need to be challenged,” he told ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne. As a consultant, West provided important advice to Golden State, including being a key factor in convincing Kevin Durant to join the Warriors.
West, who played for the Lakers for 14 years, won a title as a player with the Lakers in 1972. West also served as the Lakers’ general manager from 1982-2000. In that span, West won six more championships.
But West left the Lakers after the 2000 season and then became the Memphis Grizzlies’ general manager in 2002.
West left the Grizzlies in 2007 and joined the Warriors in 2011.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.