WEBVTT - Interview with Jerry West: Part 1 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:05.080 No, no, not come on on this episode they heat check. 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:12.520 We've got a really special episode, super special. I sat 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.200 down for almost two hours with the one and only 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:21.479 Jerry West. Not often the Jerry West gives that much 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:23.759 time to one person. 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.480 On the record. I don't think I've seen an interview 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:28.960 with him that long. 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.800 The thing that I loved is he answered every single question, 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.800 didn't duck one question, answered everything honestly, And I asked 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:40.880 him a bunch of questions, questions that I was worried 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:44.519 that might seem a little bit uncomfortable. He was open, 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:48.080 and when I listened to it back, I think the 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:51.800 thing that stuns me to a degree is when you 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:57.640 listen to him, there's just so much insight and wisdom 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:02.680 there about the game, about his personal lens on life, 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.280 things that we can kind of take into our own lives. 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.760 I know. I read that back when I was writing 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.520 up the transcript and was like, oh my goodness, great 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:16.319 quick caveat though. So the nature of Summer League is 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.240 pretty frenetic. You get people where you can get them. 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.600 I didn't have a studio, there were not a ton 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.640 of quiet places to sit down, so we ended up 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:29.440 finding a Starbucks inside of a hotel near the convention 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.600 hall inside of the Aria, which, by the way, the 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.840 Aria is a pop and ass hotel, so it's probably 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:39.000 one of the least quiet hotels on the strip, and 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:40.959 there happened to be a convention going on at that 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.720 exact same time. So some of the times it gets 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.240 very turned in our two hour interview, which was lunchtime 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:52.720 for people who were finding their quote unquote purpose live 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:57.520 your purpose out convention. So as a result, the audio 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:00.280 has a lot of background noise, which we've worked really 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.440 hard to minimize. If you have a pair of headphones, 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:07.240 I suggest putting them on. It makes the interview a 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:10.640 lot crisper. This interview, just as a heads up, has 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:12.640 been edited for time and clarity. 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:15.760 A lot of my UMBs and Ah's have been cut out. 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:18.840 I am going to introduce each topic so that I 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.200 can highlight and give additional context to what Jerry says, 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.960 because I think it is so insightful. So let's get 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:34.480 into it, all right, So let's kind of set up 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:36.000 the scene for a quick second. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:37.880 So I had been trying to nail. 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.400 Down Jerry for an interview for a few days. I 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:43.160 knew he was going to be heading out of town 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:46.360 back to LA to do something with the Clippers organization, 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.720 something with the new arena or something. I know. 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.720 Once he went to LA, it was a rap, He's 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.120 not coming. He may come back, he may not, but. 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:56.840 This interview's not gonna happen. So we needed to happen 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:02.000 before that. So I'm trying to hunt him down. Didn't 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:04.640 end up seeing him at the gym. Come back to 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.280 the Aria to go back to my room, and I 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.520 see him in the lobby talking to some season ticket holders. 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:14.639 So I'm like, yo, tomorrow, let's link interviews. And he's like, yeah, 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:16.880 let me know what's time. So we meet in the 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:21.760 lobby ten thirty am and I'm like, okay, I know 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:22.880 a quiet spot. 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:24.800 So there is a quiet. 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:29.320 Spot around the corner upstairs in the area where convention 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.160 halls are not used, and there's a package room which 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:35.000 was dead silent, and a Starbucks which is tucked in 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:36.200 the back. 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:38.920 Of the way, and I'm like, okay, we can go there. 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:44.000 So we walk over there and there's a rope and 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.680 there's a convention going on and they're like, oh, are. 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:50.120 You guys with the lead your purpose? They're like no, no, 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:51.920 well you can't go this way. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:57.280 Oh well, we're just getting a package from the package room. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.040 We're not getting a package from the package room. So 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:01.520 I circumvent that. 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.640 We go through and I'm like, there's a Starbucks right here, 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:06.400 and he's like, perfect, I'm hungry. 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:07.960 I'm starving. Awesome. 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:13.040 So we sit down probably fifteen minutes before the interview 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.240 gets going as a I want to say, like a 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:20.240 warm up. He wanted coffee, he wanted a muffin. I 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.440 think he also kind of wanted his vocal. 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.320 Cords to warm up. He needed more warmed. 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.680 Up because he's a very soft spoken guy. We had 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:32.000 to bump bodyo on this and post. Anyway, while we 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.919 were talking and just kind of getting warmed up, he 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.000 said something that really stuck out to me and I 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:43.280 wanted immediately to ask him on the record, which he said, 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.960 I think I'm really misunderstood. I think people get me 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.960 completely wrong. And I know the side of him that's 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:57.760 always cracking jokes, ball busting, but there is this this 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:02.040 thing that is an appearance that he's apparently aloof. So 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.000 I wasn't intending on asking it, but I did another 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.920 quick aside so we can get to it. I did say, hey, 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:11.719 I'll do an intro in post like we just did, 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.239 and he said, I really don't need an intro. 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.240 I'm Jerry West, so let's get into it all right. 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.400 He says he needs no introduction, so we're not gonna 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:22.440 give it one. 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:27.280 He said, I don't need an intro. He doesn't mean. 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:28.680 All you gotta say is logo. 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.719 And you know what time it is, It's Jerry West 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:37.120 time here on the heat Check podcast. You mentioned that 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:38.480 you think people. 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.800 Get you all wrong. What do you need? 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:46.880 It's been a journal graz starting with I shoot colleague 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:53.480 in the NBA when I was akod do crazy dreams 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.400 that I could depend something different. 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.719 Never in the dream I could be any world of sports. 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.720 And so I picked up a basketball at nine years 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:07.000 of age and a very solitary person and I'm still there. 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:08.320 And that's a solitary person. 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:13.039 And I could look, do you think people think they're serious? 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.240 Well, I think people probably look at them and say, well, 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:17.520 they haven't many me. 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:24.560 He's probably not approach to who, he's probably aloof. I 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:26.200 am none of those period. 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.240 I love people, loved trying to help people, like to them, 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.599 and along the way that's been a part of my life. 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.960 Also but the only thing that again that connected me 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:42.440 to so many people, meeting people I never thought I knew, 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.719 traveling places. I never thought I would love to what's 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:47.000 through the world of basketball. 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:52.360 I was able to have a career for fourteen years. 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:57.159 That was pretty good. It was all right, And to 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:01.280 be involved in the management in was something that rank 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:05.719 how we're concerned. Did I do it? But I thought 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:07.640 it was pretty easy for the college. 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.160 One really want as many complex lainers to us loss 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:11.640 to that. You know, we have so long on what 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.120 people working on a league. The league has changed greatly 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.560 before the three point line. But this gender game of basketball, 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:22.200 it's about people. It's about people, the skilled who can 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.120 play together as a team and mold themselves. 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:27.840 And he's something that fans are going the lots. 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:32.680 There's probably no one in NBA history who is as 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:34.520 much of a competitor as Jerry West. 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.600 He cares about winning more than anything. 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:41.600 But we also know it's been well documented that he 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.760 doesn't like to lose. That's been well documented, and he 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:48.480 brought up how much he hates losing kind of as 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:53.120 an aside to another question in the context of managing 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:57.040 and constructing a roster, as an executive, and that kind 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:02.480 of took us down this fascinating side road about how 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.640 much Jerry West actually hates losing. 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:08.120 Take a listen, I. 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:10.200 Hate losing how much. 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:16.600 To this day the day it torments me that I 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:18.880 lost NBA Finals eight times. 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:20.679 And which one was the worst. 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:29.559 In nineteen sixty nine, a great team and we lose 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.800 to the Boston Celtics. But anyway, we pick the time 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.440 to play a four game. They played well. 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.080 If we would played the way we're capable, we would 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.360 won that young And that was probably the most tormenting 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.760 one I was. It's never happened before. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.240 I was the most valuable player in the NBA Finals 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.400 and losing teams that made. 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:54.840 It even worse. 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.160 To be honest with you, I thought, it is a 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.720 team game, and some players excel and have enough level 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.040 in the whole period, it wasn't good enough. 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.880 Yes, I really wanted to flip again the thought and 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.120 then know if there was anything nothing in me, it 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:13.199 should be spiritually. 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:20.640 And then and I'll challenge you'll fighting depression that I 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:21.800 had caught all in my life. 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:24.360 That was probably one of the lowest spirits in my life. 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:29.400 As you know, you you thought of thought of the 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:29.960 loose side. 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:33.800 I couldn't decide. Even to this day, I can, so. 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:35.319 You still think about it now? 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.360 Oh yeah, absolutely. I thought there were two Tian teacher 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.839 to be the most healthies, but uh we didn't. But 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.560 you know, tribute to the end they played, they. 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:50.000 Were Uh we were the the asterisk. 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:57.880 Besides the championships, championship self like, winning is always given me. 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.319 Excellence was always given and you can't do it. 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:07.680 You can't achieve the games channel time unless she Hio habits. 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:13.120 I met Jerry Beck in twenty eighteen on a basketball court, 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.160 and the first question I ever asked him was about 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:17.600 him as a talent evaluator. 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:21.960 I wanted to know you're one of the best. 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:27.600 Why can you seemingly see things that almost no one 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:31.360 else can see? Or why do you see them more 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.360 consistently than anyone else? And how do you know that 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.440 a player is going to be special and which ones 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:39.520 are going to be busts. 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:40.880 It's one of the most. 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:44.800 Fascinating questions to me, because I think it's so nuanced 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:45.560 and so. 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.400 Hard to figure out. And for people who don't know, 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:51.800 there's people I guess that don't. 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.440 Jerry West has been part of front offices for the 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:56.560 Showtime Lakers. 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:58.240 That's five rings. 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.760 Was responsible for bringing in Kobe and Shack and hiring 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:04.480 Phil Jackson to the Lakers. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:06.960 That's three championships while he was there. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.439 Went to Memphis in the Grit and Grind era, which 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:14.360 was a whole thing in itself with Gasol, both Gasol brothers, 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:20.360 with Mike Conley Junior, a bunch of guys insane tenure 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.000 there as well, and then goes to work for the 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.200 Warriors as a special assistant and was a part of 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:30.600 drafting Draymond Green and finding him in the draft, recruiting 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.800 Kevin Durant, nixing a trade that would have traded Klay 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:39.040 Thompson to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love. He then 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:43.520 goes to the Clippers, where he helps draft Shay Gilgess 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:49.440 Alexander who wasn't on anyone's radar, recruits Kawhi Leonard, does 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.320 the trade or helps do the trade for Paul George, 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.360 building a Clippers team that is widely regarded to be 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.599 the favorite to win or one of the favorites to 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:03.520 win in this year's NBA Championship. He has eight championships 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.200 as an executive and two Awards for Executive of the Year. 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:11.280 He is point blank the best GM we've ever seen, 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:12.640 and it's not close. 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:14.000 Do not forget that. 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.760 And the thing I really appreciate about this clip is 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:19.319 how he simplifies the game. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:20.800 What does he see? 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:23.360 He makes it so easy for us to see what 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:26.320 he looks at in deciding who's good and who's not. 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:31.360 The if not the one of the best talent evaluators 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:33.200 in the game of basketball that we've ever seen. 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:36.960 How do you do that? 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.040 Well? To me, your eyes don't lie to you. Okay, 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.839 they never know, you know. He gets the players of 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.839 today obviously so much younger when they've been pushed in 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:53.960 the time fifteen years old, their rank of union, the 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:58.960 top tim high school player in their country. I've kind 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.360 not to playing fans in that I really do, because 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:07.079 the kids are just much mormature where body was body was. 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:10.480 And also you could have a kid that's going in 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.760 January of the same year as someone going in December. 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.040 It is the whole year that actually there's something I 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:23.280 do pay attention to. So the first one later has 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:28.520 to be physically not as equipp is a guy who's 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:29.360 a whole year older. 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.800 And then the other one and yet they were going 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:32.600 the same others. 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.600 But to me just watching games, uh, some kids have 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:42.600 unique talent to make others better. They seem like they're 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:46.160 a step ahead, a play ahead where they never get 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:51.839 themselves in trouble, running over people, making turnovers and. 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.839 In today's game turnovers or it's a it's a year 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:56.440 of two or three point flock. 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:03.080 And so I've tried to understand that taking consideration the youth. 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.040 But at the end of the day, I like a 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:07.080 certain kind of player. 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:11.920 I like the long armed athletic players, and particularly people 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.280 who can thank the game at a higher levels. 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:20.360 If you can't keep your body under control, and some 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:21.200 of these kids. 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:24.760 Are incredible, often because someone that's so out of control. 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.080 If you can't keep your body under control. 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:31.880 The thing that I would think everyone could see would 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:36.720 be playing too fast, where some people whatever, some skilled, 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:37.800 the faster you can play. 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.880 But probably the thing except them par the ones who 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.760 are not I roll up make things kind of plays, 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:48.840 and the only they go too fast, they have to 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.320 see the game in slow motion, and particularly at this 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:52.040 higher level. 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.400 So in the era of super teams, we have some 0:14:55.600 --> 0:15:00.080 gms and executives who want to just put like three 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.800 of the best players on planet Earth together, and they 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.400 somehow think that's gonna work, right, And they believe you 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.880 put a few talented, hyper talented players together in your win. 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.120 A talented assortment of players on a team wins every time. 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:14.520 To them. 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:19.120 What makes Jerry West different is best explained in an 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:23.160 analogy he gives in this next clip where he describes 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:28.200 a roster like a car, like an automobile, and he 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:32.320 also mentions how he uses the draft to build a roster, 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.200 how he convinces players to buy into playing this role. 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:41.160 And to me, it's really detailed and really nuanced. And 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.680 he was particularly soft spoken in this clip, so listen 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.320 carefully with your headphones on full blast. 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.680 But you're certain players I like, I have a different 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.560 analogy of what I think is the league. I do 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:57.120 not play and get a chancel, which don't fids to 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.480 get into the league, and protecting the young means because 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:02.720 I don't see a body of works here to compare 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.960 them to here, and particularly playing against people with all 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:12.040 you know, much greater age and mufic, you know, playing 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.520 against professional play sequel all life. But there's little things 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.080 that I see that I'm I guess fall in love 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:24.200 with and they don't always work out, But to me, 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:25.200 life is the funds of them. 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:28.520 Anyway, basketball, you need five players to start. 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.160 Okay, and then if you have a really good team, 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:32.840 people coming off the nuns have. 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:35.960 To be able to comp the moment then and it's 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:37.160 a working unit. 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.440 If you have a missing piece, I'm assuming its life 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.080 of car in some respects. We have one real fighting 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.800 fall in the car and at the end of the 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.120 day that car is gonna break down. 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.760 How do you use that philosophy to find red players 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:56.040 that are those little tiny parts for the car? 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:01.440 Well, and unfortunately, I definitely wanting my I was in Memphis. 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:03.920 Memphis completely different than. 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:04.919 The whole tanga. 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:10.240 We really have the ability that the draft some really 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:13.959 unique players who trade and allowed us to get very 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:18.199 high in the draft, and then they turned off. Fantastic 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:21.840 came from big stars, and so we leave the players 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:22.840 to compliment things. 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:25.440 And so you're all went a long way. When you 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:28.440 I think you have to look, you know, how odd 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:29.479 reap this position? 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.359 And I like to see some kind of a draft 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:36.280 or there's not just thirty year old players who go 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.920 straight down. I like kind of a slanting line that 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.680 will allow the older players, players that are in their twenties, 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:49.359 and then the younger kids who hopefully to jump in 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:51.280 and there with your talents and be able to fit 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:51.680 in at. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:52.240 A great team. 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.760 But also, I will tell you if you had a 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.520 chance to be involved with really great players, they welcomed 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:01.159 these young and they want. 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.879 Them to get negg and to me, the more you 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.240 put your arm around the kid who I'm struggling to 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.760 be rugg and might lose confidence, maybe he's quiet and shy, 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:11.760 try to make them part of it. 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:16.600 Everyone should year even if you office funt office gets so. 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:21.840 Big to them expanded so much, they're not intimate as 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.160 they once were. Which there's a reason of that, because 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:29.520 I tremendous grows in the league expansion. Everyone is trying 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:33.080 to get some kind of head and they hire the 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:34.399 best people of the. 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.600 Best supposed to be the best coaching is, the best trainer, 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:42.159 the best health experts. So there's a lot more at 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.720 stake today. So consequently, you're going. 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:46.440 To have more people with him in the league, and 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:48.639 there's all kind of people out there they're thinking of 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:53.480 gotten you no doubt, and it's yeah, because you have 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.240 to find a way to convince them. 0:18:56.640 --> 0:19:00.760 That keeping computed to your Here, Jerry discusses how he 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:05.359 can identify if a player has the competitive spirit or 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:06.200 if they love the game. 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:09.040 This is one of those things we're all wondering about. 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:09.720 How do you know? 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.440 How can you tell if a player actually loves basketball? 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.600 He breaks this down very simply, but he moves on 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:18.679 and dissects something else, which I. 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:20.000 Think is even more interesting. 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:24.320 At Summer League, I heard Isaiah Thomas on a broadcast 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.159 saying how every young player in the league owes a 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:30.240 debt of gratitude to Jerry West. And if you listen 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.120 to this clip, I think you'll find out very quickly why. 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:38.000 This is a guy who played right before salary started skyrocketing, 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:43.040 and for whatever reason, he has zero bitterness over the 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:47.320 fact his era was not treated the same as this era. 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.800 He recognizes how much work these young men have put 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:55.320 on and put in, how they don't come from wealthy backgrounds, 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.360 and sees this as an opportunity for them to get 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.920 life change money so that when they leave the game 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:07.120 they can take time not have to get a job 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:10.440 and find out what it is they truly love. If 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:14.440 they don't truly love basketball, and he's totally cool with that. 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:17.520 Not only is he totally cool, I think he kinda 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.399 finds it to be a rare gift for these kids. 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:26.000 Very few executives believe this, nor will say it out loud, 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:29.359 But I think Jerry West always believes that a player, 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:31.080 and he has said this in this interview as well, 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.440 always believes players should get paid every single penny that 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:40.320 they are worth and even more. Sometimes that's what we 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:43.720 call for the culture Jerry West. 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:47.640 There's like this X factor, the love of the game. 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:53.720 He just loves basketball, or he's just this relentless competitor 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:54.680 he hates to lose. 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:58.399 Kind of like you, how do you quantify that? 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.200 Because everyone's says they love the game. 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:04.080 Is it just a gut feeling where you meet him 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.280 and you're like, oh, yeah, I think he's gonna take 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:07.560 games for Yeah. 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:10.680 Some of these kids have a gleaming wye okay, and 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:13.520 they're wide eyed and and particularly when they're taking around 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:14.600 from the bedroom players. 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:19.440 But I've always said, find something you love to do. 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:21.719 Get what you love to do. Anyone ever working dare 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:22.480 in my life. 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.080 And today these kids would come in, they have high 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:26.840 ass the rays and they've been pushed. 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:28.240 They've been training at a. 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:33.160 Higher level than players with yesteryear. And you get around them, 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:35.000 and you get around them and you've talked to him 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:39.960 and some of them talk a good game. Some of 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:42.680 them tell you how good they are, but to me, 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:46.800 what the work they put in. After you've had your conversation, 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:50.520 they're a gym rats. There's guys that just love to 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:54.160 be in the gym. And it's just amazing today that's 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:58.280 you know, you have the season doesn't start to you know, 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:01.840 lates early October. 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:04.760 And they have kids in other gym all the times. 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:07.640 I mean, they're not just young kid, they're better. 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:12.399 And that's a whole agree the uniqueness of this league today, 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.000 kids from all level. If they can't come in and 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:22.040 play them, they surely can make enough money because there's 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:24.919 biggest storgument that they're going to make so much. 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:28.200 Answer the money and advertise them and stuff like that. 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:31.159 Many of them make a lot more than they do 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:34.080