Latest news with #JerryWest
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
"I had to go to the hospital for three days. I was just emotionally spent" - West said acquiring Kobe and Shaqal in the same offseason crushed his health
In the years following the Showtime era, the Los Angeles Lakers entered unfamiliar territory — irrelevance. The once-feared juggernaut, anchored by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, began fading into the background of NBA contention after their retirements. Pat Riley, the architect of the franchise's '80s dominance, had also moved on. By the mid-1990s, the Lakers were merely a shadow of what they once represented: a team struggling to maintain its identity in a league rapidly evolving around it. An exhausting summer For Jerry West, the late Hall of Fame player turned executive, it was a time for risk. In the summer of 1996, "The Logo" orchestrated one of the boldest double-moves in modern sports history, trading for the draft rights to 17-year-old Kobe Bryant and signing All-NBA center Shaquille O'Neal in free agency. Both acquisitions redefined the franchise for the next decade. But behind the scenes, the legendary general manager paid a steep price. Advertisement "After that was done and the draft was done, I had to go to the hospital for three days," West once said. "I was just emotionally spent and exhausted. I don't sleep. One day, I went to see the doctor, and he said the day after that, he said, 'we're going to have to put you in a hospital.' And I was there for three days." The legendary guard turned basketball executive had staked the Lakers' future on a high school prodigy and an unpredictable superstar center. The Charlotte Hornets selected Bryant 13th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft. The teenager from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania had never played a second of college basketball. Yet West saw something. He'd spent countless hours evaluating Bryant's footwork, instincts, and innate competitiveness. When he envisioned the 6'6" guard alongside a dominant big man, the next chapter of the Lakers' greatness began to take shape in his mind. To complete the picture, he pursued O'Neal — a three-time All-Star in Orlando, a global sensation, and arguably the most physically dominant center since Wilt Chamberlain. Convincing "Big Diesel" to come to L.A. required navigating a minefield of salary cap intricacies, internal politics and frenzied media speculation. West absorbed it all. Advertisement Related: "You gonna be calling me Mr. Jordan before the night is up" - John Starks recalls how he tried to intimidate Michael Jordan in his Knicks debut Jerry's Lakers blueprint By the time the ink dried on the two deals, the toll on West's body and mind had reached its limit. "The Logo," normally composed and intensely focused, simply couldn't go any further. Months of stress, sleepless nights and high-stakes decisions had culminated in three days of hospitalization. "I have no energy at all and I've always been a high-energy person," West revealed. "But that was the start of another great run for the Lakers and two of the greatest players we ever had." Advertisement The price West paid soon became the foundation for the next Lakers dynasty. From 2000 to 2002, Los Angeles captured three consecutive NBA championships. O'Neal won Finals MVP each time, dominating the paint with a blend of brute strength and underrated finesse. Maturing into a lethal scorer and tireless competitor, Bryant evolved from a precocious rookie to one of the league's most feared guards. Their partnership wasn't always smooth. Egos clashed and philosophical differences festered, but the results were undeniable. During their peak, the Lakers were the NBA's gold standard — winning 67 games in the 1999–2000 season and sweeping through the 2001 playoffs with a 15-1 postseason record, a mark that stood untouched for nearly two decades. Together, Bryant and O'Neal formed the most formidable inside-out duo since Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar. They were transformative. On the court, they forced opponents into submission. Though no longer GM when their championship run peaked, West laid the cornerstone of that success. Advertisement His foresight in gambling on a teenager and pulling the league's most sought-after free agent to Los Angeles changed the NBA's landscape. The league, at the time, had never seen a high school guard drafted that high. But Bryant went on to play 20 seasons for the Lakers, becoming the franchise's all-time leading scorer. Related: "Well, basketball here is different" - Kobe Bryant remembered Italian kids telling him he would never be an NBA player
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Jerry West was hospitalized after bringing Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to the Lakers
Jerry West was hospitalized after bringing Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to the Lakers After Magic Johnson was forced to retire from the NBA because he tested HIV positive in November 1991, the Los Angeles Lakers went into purgatory. They had an aging roster, and they decided to start over and rebuild rather than fight to hold onto a shred of respectability. They managed to miss the playoffs once in 1994 before returning there the following year and upsetting the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round. But they weren't championship contenders and didn't have a superstar, and late executive Jerry West knew that merely being good wouldn't be good enough for their spoiled fan base. In the summer of 1996, they had the opportunity to snag the biggest of superstars this side of Michael Jordan. Shaquille O'Neal wasn't fully content with being on a strong Orlando Magic team, and he became a free agent that summer. Better yet, he was just 24 years of age and a bigger-than-life personality who seemed tailor-made for Los Angeles. West managed to land O'Neal, and in the process, he also landed the draft rights to a 17-year-old prodigy named Kobe Bryant. But bidding against the Magic for O'Neal pushed him to the limit emotionally, and once the job was done, he was spent. He admitted in an interview with Graham Bensinger that he was hospitalized after he won the bidding war for the dominant center. "After that was done and the draft was done, I had to go in the hospital for three days," West said. "I was just emotionally spent and exhausted. ... One day, I went to see the doctor, and he said, the day after that, he said, 'we're going to have to put you in a hospital.' And I was there for three days. I was absolutely listless. I had no energy at all." As brilliant as West was as the main man in the Lakers' front office, he was often a nervous and anxious man. He likely thrived off of that type of energy, but the growing pains the Lakers had as they rebuilt throughout the 1990s took a toll on him. In fact, he seriously considered quitting his front office role in 1998. He did end up leaving his post in 2000 after they had finally won it all. Two more championships would follow in the next two years, and after a very rocky retooling process in the middle of the 2000s, they won two more world titles with Bryant and Hall of Fame big man Pau Gasol in 2009 and 2010. It's pretty safe to say that the emotional and physical toll West went through in 1996 was worth it.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti named NBA Basketball Executive of the Year for first time
Oklahoma City Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti was named the NBA Basketball Executive of the Year, the league announced Tuesday. It's the first time Presti, who is in his 18th season with the Thunder franchise, has won the award that an executive from each team votes on. Advertisement Presit oversaw the rebuild of the Thunder for a second time, which led to this season's franchise-best 68-14 record and No. 1 overall seed in the postseason. The 68 wins were the fifth-most in a single season in NBA history. OKC also posted a 12.9-point scoring differential and won 54 games by double digits, both the largest in NBA history. The Thunder was also 29-1 against the Eastern Conference, the best record against an opposing conference in league history. With 68 wins, Presti also became just the fourth head of basketball operations in NBA history to build 60-win teams with two entirely different rosters, joining Red Auerbach, Jerry West and Pat Riley. More: OKC Thunder squanders Game 1 vs Denver Nuggets and Chet Holmgren knows he must 'be better' Advertisement "First and foremost, this is an organizational and community-driven award," Presti said in a release. "As with all NBA organizations, ownership is central to everything that happens with the Thunder. On behalf of our entire staff, I want to thank Clay Bennett and our entire ownership group for their continuous support and belief in our vision for basketball in Oklahoma City and as a community accelerator. "An award such as this is really the result of our players and their commitment to our program. They push themselves in all capacities for the good of the team. I'm fortunate to work with this particular collection of men, and I do not take their professionalism for granted. "We have an incredible coaching staff and support staff, many who have been here for over 10 years as the team behind the team, and I see their excellence day to day, in ways that are invisible but invaluable to a sustainable organization. "I am deeply grateful to the many front office members that I have been privileged enough to work with and learn from throughout my experience with the Thunder. There are too many people to thank, but I am aware that I'm simply a representative of our front office and our commitment to improve one another. Advertisement "Lastly, I'm extremely humbled to be recognized by my peers, it is a privilege to be a member of such a talented group of basketball executives that work in the NBA today and I'm thankful for the relationships I've enjoyed with many of them over the years. We are all fortunate to have had people come before us who once served the position such as Donnie Walsh, Wayne Embry, Kevin O'Connor, Jack McCloskey, Rod Thorn, Sam Schuler, Jerry Colangelo, Mitch Kupchak, John Paxson, Mark Warkentien, John Gabriel, Bob Whitsitt, Danny Ferry, Carroll Dawson, Scott Layden, Bryan Colangelo, Geoff Petrie, Jerry West, Jerry Krause, and others who helped define the role that we are all now privileged to serve." More: How Russell Westbrook helped steal Game 1 for Nuggets against Thunder in NBA Playoffs This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti named NBA Executive of Year for first time
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stephen Curry passes Lakers' Jerry West on NBA scoring list: 'That's The Logo, so very special'
Stephen Curry passes Lakers' Jerry West on NBA scoring list: 'That's The Logo, so very special' Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, left, passed Lakers legend Jerry West for 25th on the NBA all-time scoring list. (Associated Press; Getty Images) The focus rightly was on the immediate. Stephen Curry scored 52 points Tuesday in a 134-125 win over the Memphis Grizzlies that vaulted the surging Golden State Warriors into fifth place in the Western Conference standings. He made 12 three-point shots, two shy of former teammate Klay Thompson's single-game NBA record. Advertisement Curry's performance was so otherworldly that Gilbert Arenas stopped watching his son, USC commit Alijah, play in the McDonald's All-American Game to follow the scoring barrage from the 37-year-old 10-time All-Star guard. Yet given a moment to reflect, Curry became emotional because along the way he passed the late Jerry West for 25th on the NBA career scoring list. West, of course, played his entire 14-year career with the Lakers and is best known globally for being the inspiration behind the NBA logo. Read more: How Jerry West became the NBA logo — and why David Stern never admitted to it But he also served as a Warriors' special consultant from 2011-2017, during which time Curry led the team to two NBA championships. West's son, Jonnie, is the Warriors senior director of pro personnel. Advertisement 'That's special, obviously in our memory and what he meant to the league, to the world of basketball, to our organization when he worked here,' Curry said of West, who died in June. 'And my relationship with Jonnie. I got to talk to him after the game, just to share a moment of what it meant for me, my family, the entire West family. "So that is special. Just understanding what his career was, that's The Logo, so very special. I'll keep that ball and put it in a good place.' Cracking the top 25 in career scoring — Curry has 25,205 points — is a feat Curry cherished because he eclipsed West. Otherwise, it's just another rung in a ladder he'll continue climbing at warp speed. In his 16th season, Curry's play has diminished only a tick. After the 52-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist and six-steal performance, he's averaging 24.4 points, 6.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds a game this season. Advertisement Read more: Jerry West, Lakers legend and architect of 'Showtime' era, dies at 86 Career averages? 24.7 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds. Projecting that he'll produce close to those numbers for three more seasons — when he turns 40 — Curry would approach 30,000 points, a number attained by only eight players: From the top, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Kevin Durant. The Clippers' James Harden, currently 11th with 27,527 points, likely will beat Curry to 30,000, and DeMar DeRozan is on Curry's heels at 25,159. Advertisement Curry, though, was reminded in the fourth quarter Tuesday not to chase records when he missed consecutive three-point attempts with Thompson's mark on his mind. He tapped his chest and apologized to teammates after the second errant shot. "The first two shots I took in the fourth quarter were a reflection of that,' Curry said. 'First touch, shot it in transition. Then went iso left wing. Missed both of those and then I kinda came to reality. Those were the ultimate heat checks even though I just got back in the game.' Read more: LeBron James is first NBA player to score 50,000 points. What's next? Luka Doncic says '70K' Warriors coach Steve Kerr excused his star guard for the momentary lapse. Advertisement 'The guy is 37 years old,' he said. 'Incredible. Fifty-two points with people draped all over him all game long. The conditioning. The skill. The audacity. The belief. It's just incredible to watch Steph at work.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Chicago Tribune
09-02-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
No. 23 Illinois leans on talented freshman class that can be a force when healthy
MINNEAPOLIS — The experienced team that Illinois men's basketball took to the Elite Eight last season after winning the Big Ten Tournament title needed to be replaced after most of the key players turned pro and scattered about. Coach Brad Underwood decided to go young, and these first-year Illini have flashed plenty of potential. If they can keep everyone healthy down the stretch, they're good enough despite their age to be quite the presence in March. 'Our ceiling is really high,' Underwood said after 23rd-ranked Illinois beat Minnesota 95-74 on Saturday. 'These guys are really talented players. They're all, at some point in their careers, next level. I'm not afraid to say that, and I've said it since day one.' The freshmen were out in force to help the Illini get back on track, following four losses in their last six games. Will Riley had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists off the bench. Kasparas Jakucionis had 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting. Tomislav Ivisic added 18 points and 11 rebounds while playing on a bad ankle. Morez Johnson Jr. chipped in four points and three rebounds in 14 minutes. The Illini shot 63.2% from the floor, their best rate in a Big Ten game in eight years. 'Everything we go through, we're so young, that it's a great experience. Going through the struggles, going through the hard things, going through a tough loss, all those things are new,' Underwood said. 'We keep believing in ourselves, and that's the one thing with my job is to not get frustrated with them because they're going through something for the first time.' Illinois (16-8, 8-6) improved to 15-1 when scoring at least 80 points and is averaging 85 points per game, the most since 1988-89 when that team reached the Final Four. Jakucionis, who is a top-10 finalist for the Jerry West award given to the nation's best shooting guard, set the program freshman record with his ninth 20-point game. The native of Lithuania is likely bound for the NBA next season. Riley, a Canadian who was the highest-ranked incoming freshman Illinois has had since the recruiting services began grading them online, is a 6-foot-8 matchup nightmare for most wings in the league. Then there's the 7-foot-1 Ivisic, from Croatia, whose eligibility review by the NCAA resulted in him being classified as a sophomore. With his size and skill, he likely won't stay in school long enough for that to matter anyway. His toughness, though, will stick with Underwood and the Illini for a long time. After hurting his ankle in the second half of a loss at Rutgers on Thursday, Ivisic played through the pain in that game and answered the bell again on Saturday after being listed as questionable and only going through some light warmups on the court. His ankle, Underwood said, resembled a 'quite enlarged cabernet grape. It is black and blue, and it is nasty.' Ivisic played 33 minutes and was a defensive force as well, helping limit Gophers star Dawson Garcia — the second-leading scorer in the Big Ten — to 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting. 'My hat's off to him, because when you start thinking that way, you start thinking about your teammates and not yourself, and that's huge,' Underwood said. The Illini have been hampered by a series of illnesses and injuries since Big Ten play began, a factor in their recent slide. The flu has run rampant through the team, and starting guard Tre White and key backup Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn were only token participants on the court on Saturday because of it. Ivisic missed three games last month due to mononucleosis. Jakucionis missed two games last month with an arm injury and hadn't been as productive since his return. He was 4 for 28 from 3-point range over the previous six games and totaled 15 points over the last two. 'We're still not whole, but I liked what those pieces together do,' Underwood said. Originally Published: February 8, 2025 at 8:56 PM CST
