New details have emerged regarding Jerry West’s recent departure from the Warriors’ front office to join the Los Angeles Clippers.
According to Sam Amick of USA Today, West’s relationship with the Warriors became fractured toward the end of his tenure, due partially to a disagreement regarding compensation.
“They didn’t want to pay him as much as the Clippers did,” USA Today Sports’ Sam Amick said on The Ringer NBA Show via NBCSports Bay Area. “It got a little messy at the end. They all tried to keep it under wraps a little bit. Jerry’s been a little bit outspoken. This Warriors thing — that was a painful ending … he wanted to be back with the Warriors,” Amick said. “I was definitely told that he was extremely disappointed with how that ended.”
West said during his introductory press conference with the Clippers that he never thought he would work anywhere else.
“It took me a few days to get over the shock of ‘I never thought I’d work anywhere else again,’” West told reporters. “I think sometimes you look in the mirror and you have to say to yourself, ‘My goodness, what more is there to do?’
West’s presence had a significant impact on the Warriors’ franchise after Joe Lacob made him one of the team’s first hires after taking over as owner. West was a vocal supporter of not trading Klay Thompson for Kevin Love in 2014, going so far as to say he’d quit if Golden State pulled the trigger on the deal. He also called Kevin Durant after the infamous Hampton’s meeting this summer, with many crediting the conversation as a tipping point in convincing Durant to sign.
West has spent a fair share of of his professional life in Los Angeles both as a player and executive. West was an architect of the Showtime Lakers of the 80’s, and the Kobe-Shaq dynasty in the late 90s-early 2000s.
The Clippers franchise enters the 2017 offseason at a crossroads with with starters Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and JJ Redick all bound for free agency on July 1.