Posted on 11/23/2006 3:56:18 PM PST by Nachum
He was one of the NBA's all-time great players. He has been one of its most successful GMs. Legend has it that his silhouette is even used as the league logo.
So when Jerry West faces an uncertain future, it's news.
West, 68, is in the final year of his contract as Grizzlies president of basketball operations. The man who brought him to Memphis five-and-a-half years ago, Michael Heisley, is in the process of selling the team. So far there is no guarantee the new owners will keep West around to run the show.
Speculation around the NBA is that West might retire at season's end. Or maybe find another team. He surely will have options.
West won't comment on his future plans. For now he says he just wants to focus on helping turn around the Grizzlies, who lost star forward Pau Gasol to a broken foot before the season and have limped to a 2-9 record.
"We've had a bunch of games lost in the fourth quarter," West said Tuesday, just hours before the Grizzlies dropped another heartbreaker in Cleveland. "Our veteran players have been terrible. They've played very poorly. ...
"We've got good young players, and Pau will be back soon. But we have to play harder than we've been playing."
These must be trying times indeed for West. Known for being one of the game's top GMs, he no doubt wants to do something to help his club. One has to wonder if the team's unsettled ownership situation -- a group led by former Duke players Brian Davis and Christian Laettner are awaiting approval from a group of minority owners -- has tied West's hands to some degree. That's what happened recently in Atlanta, where the Hawks have been embroiled in an ownership dispute. It's hard to make moves when you don't know who's calling the shots.
West declined to comment on his team's ownership change, but he did say the situation has created some "very awkward working conditions."
One example might be the situation with coach Mike Fratello. Before the season, West and Grizzlies management talked openly about their desire to see the team play a more up-tempo style in Gasol's absence, and to develop the team's young talent. But so far the Grizzlies have not pushed the ball consistently. Last week, Heisley came out and said publicly that he was disappointed in the team's style of play, but that any judgment on the coach would be left to West.
When asked about Fratello's job status on Tuesday, West replied: "Nothing's going to happen."
Despite the Grizzlies' poor record, the season has not been a total bust. Memphis has been competitive in most of its games, battling teams like the Kings, Rockets and Cavs to the wire. Gasol is back at practice and scheduled to return by mid or late December. The team's brutal early schedule -- which features six back-to-backs in November and which West calls "the worst I've ever seen" -- eases up considerably next month.
Best of all, youngsters Hakim Warrick, Lawrence Roberts, Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry have showed considerable promise. Gay, a 6-foot-9 forward selected No. 8 overall in last June's Draft, ranks among the top rookies in scoring (8.5 points) and rebounding (4.5). Before breaking his wrist in Tuesday night's loss at Cleveland -- an injury that will sideline him indefinitely -- Lowry had been one of the Grizzlies' most dynamic players. A 6-foot guard out of Villanova selected No. 24 in the draft, Lowry was averaging 5.6 points, 3.1 boards and 3.2 assists in just 17.5 minutes per game.
"Kyle is a natural leader," West said. "The kid will run through a brick wall. ... Gay is so talented. He can really defend. He's so long. He looks like he's not even moving out there. They are two of the nicest kids, too."
It's easy to forget that before West arrived in Memphis back in 2002, the Grizzlies were a mess. Now they are coming off three straight playoff seasons. Even this year's setbacks haven't tempered his outlook for the future.
"We were getting old, to be honest," West says of his decision to shake things up this summer. "We weren't going anywhere the way we were. Now we've got a foundation of young players. We are well under the cap. Next year they can bid on a [free agent]."
Notice that West used the word "they" instead of "we." Maybe it was a slip of the tongue. Or maybe he doesn't think he'll be around to make that call.
Jerry West, when basketball was basketball instead of the neo-playground hip-hop sport it's now.
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