Sports Poets Society

14 Jun 2024 - Las Vegas Review-Journal By Tim Reynolds - The Associated Press IT was during the NBA Finals in 2010. Kobe Bryant was asked a question about whether he thought he was the greatest Los Angeles Laker ever. The answer was immediate. “No,” Bryant said. He wasn’t being difficult or misleading and the question was fair, especially because Bryant surely would have been on the list of candidates for such a title. But in Bryant’s mind, that distinction — greatest Laker ever — belonged to only one person. “In my opinion,” Bryant said, “it’s Jerry West because of everything that he’s done.” Bryant didn’t mean just one thing, but really, he could have. What West did at the 1996 NBA draft and in the weeks that immediately followed not only added to his own incredible legacy but also was the first step to Bryant becoming a global icon and helping the Lakers win five championships in the next 14 years. West had the courage to do what 12 other teams did not. He rolled the dice and drafte...

Jerry West made the Lakers one of sport’s greatest franchises,  first as a Hall of Fame player and then as a championship-building general manager. (Lisa Blumenfeld Getty Images) 14 Jun 2024 - Las Vegas Review-Journal By Bill Plaschke - Los Angeles Times THE sadness was compounded by the strangeness. The announcement of the death of the greatest Laker was made by the Clippers. “Jerry West, the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him, passed away peacefully this morning at the age of 86,” read the Wednesday morning release from the Clippers’ communications department.  The Clippers loved Jerry West, and were loved by him, and he was treated with the utmost dignity and respect during his seven years as their adviser. But he will forever be a Laker. He built the Lakers into a Southern California institution as a player. He constructed and nurtured the Lakers’ greatness as a general manager. He was their conscience. He was their heartbeat. He was ...