Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA News.
Speaker 2: This's you, Chris Haynes.
Speaker 1: It's time, works time, It's so time you cut. This
Speaker 1: League Uncut is underway tend on five. This should be
Speaker 1: a good one.
Speaker 3: Everyone, welcome in, Welcome back to the NBA Finals and
Speaker 3: a new edition of this League Uncut. It is June twelfth,
Speaker 3: It is the morning of Game three of these NBA Finals.
Speaker 2: And just have to be upfront with you from the jump.
Speaker 3: This was We thought this would be a very joyous
Speaker 3: occasion because Chris Haynes and I were in the same city, which,
Speaker 3: as you guys know, those of you who listen to
Speaker 3: this show regularly, you know that it is rare when
Speaker 3: Chris and I actually get to be together to hang
Speaker 3: out to cover a game together. And we will do
Speaker 3: that later tonight. But this is a very sad day
Speaker 3: in the NBA. There is no way to get around that.
Speaker 3: Early this morning, we got the news from the Clippers.
Speaker 3: Jerry West, the one and only Jerry West, the logo
Speaker 3: who has been working as a Clippers consultant for the
Speaker 3: past several seasons. The Clippers announced that at the age
Speaker 3: of eighty six. Jerry West passed away earlier today, peacefully
Speaker 3: with wife Karen at his side. But we are talking
Speaker 3: about one of the absolute giants of this game for
Speaker 3: decades and decades and decades, long before Chris or I
Speaker 3: started covering this league. And I can honestly say I
Speaker 3: covered Jerry West as a Lakers beat writer. I was
Speaker 3: there when, in the same summer he was able to
Speaker 3: draft Kobe Bryant and sign Shaquille O'Neill just weeks later
Speaker 3: what is probably still regarded as the greatest off season
Speaker 3: an NBA executive, and maybe any sports team executive has
Speaker 3: ever had to be able to make those two moves
Speaker 3: in such a short span. And so I've been covering
Speaker 3: him for a long time. I know, Chris, you got
Speaker 3: to cover him when you were embedded with the Warriors
Speaker 3: and Jerry was a Warriors executive.
Speaker 2: But I mean, I can just tell you.
Speaker 3: There's nobody in the league who I looked forward to
Speaker 3: speaking to more than Jerry West, especially as he got older.
Speaker 2: The care factor, the.
Speaker 3: Competitiveness, the intensity as he got older, the candor. I mean,
Speaker 3: I could go on and on and on, but just
Speaker 3: getting to speak to him and unfiltered Jerry West was
Speaker 3: a true treat And you know, we're doing this pod
Speaker 3: about two hours later than we thought we would because
Speaker 3: I frankly needed some time to try to figure out
Speaker 3: what to say, because obviously Jerry was in his eighties,
Speaker 3: he was in ill health. But nothing prepares you for
Speaker 3: the loss of a legend like this. And Bill Walton
Speaker 3: just passed away a couple of weeks ago, and now
Speaker 3: we lose Jerry West, and it is it's just.
Speaker 2: Tremendously sad.
Speaker 4: No, indeed, it is, you know, and rest in peace
Speaker 4: to Jerry West, and give our condoless to family and friends,
Speaker 4: close friends of Jerry.
Speaker 5: He was a.
Speaker 4: He was an incredible individual. I enjoyed my time being
Speaker 4: around him. As you mentioned Steinwn covering the warriors. And
Speaker 4: you know, Star I grew up. I grew up around
Speaker 4: a lot of senior citizens. I had them in my
Speaker 4: family and my churches. And you know, you have some
Speaker 4: youngsters who despise listening to the old stories from from
Speaker 4: your elder statesman, and I was the opposite.
Speaker 5: Always. I always like hearing the stories.
Speaker 4: I like hearing how life seems so simple back in
Speaker 4: the day, you know, just to have the way they
Speaker 4: used to navigate this a life that was viewed and
Speaker 4: told as so much more simple than what we live
Speaker 4: in the modern era. And so I've always enjoyed, you know,
Speaker 4: hearing stories from the elders. Jerry West was definitely somebody
Speaker 4: that I always gravitated towards, because once you got to
Speaker 4: spend some time with him, once gave you time, you
Speaker 4: didn't know what he was going to say, and you
Speaker 4: didn't know how he was going to say it. You know,
Speaker 4: you you talked about Jerry West being candid, you know,
Speaker 4: you know, I think we all when you get a
Speaker 4: certain age, you start speaking speaking more of your mind,
Speaker 4: like you.
Speaker 5: Give less fucks. And that was definitely Jerry. And the more.
Speaker 4: Accomplished life you have, the more experiences you have in life,
Speaker 4: the more interactions you have with a different group of people,
Speaker 4: that tends to lend to having more stories and just
Speaker 4: having these incredible, incredible times in these periods in which
Speaker 4: you can tell And that was Jerry. And there were
Speaker 4: times I find myself talking to him seeking information, you know,
Speaker 4: seeking information on the Warriors or the NBA or whatever,
Speaker 4: and next thing, you know, you didn't spend thirty minutes.
Speaker 4: He's talking about the old locker room and you know,
Speaker 4: being pissed at winning one championship.
Speaker 5: And all he had to go through. The It was
Speaker 5: just man, he was just incredible.
Speaker 4: Man. I'm going to miss those conversations. He's definitely one
Speaker 4: of the pillars of the NBA. He's the logo for
Speaker 4: a reason. Eight championships as an executive one, as a player,
Speaker 4: very much accomplished basketball executive ranks.
Speaker 5: Just a cool, polarizing person.
Speaker 4: Man, And I'm going to miss those conversations for sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and look, he stopped playing shortly before I can
Speaker 3: really say that I became an NBA fan, So I.
Speaker 2: Didn't get to see him play.
Speaker 3: Only I've watched highlights and you know, seen lots of clips.
Speaker 3: But I mean, he he was. He just did everything.
Speaker 3: He was a textbook player. He was a two way player.
Speaker 3: People didn't talk enough about what a rugged and effective
Speaker 3: defender he was. But shooting the ball, dribbling the ball,
Speaker 3: I mean, he just did it in absolute textbook fashion.
Speaker 3: But I did get to cover Jerry the executive very
Speaker 3: very closely.
Speaker 2: And look we are talking about.
Speaker 3: He was openly anguished and tormented his whole life. He
Speaker 3: did a book in twenty eleven with Jonathan Coleman, and
Speaker 3: the book is called West by West My Charmed Tormented Life.
Speaker 3: I mean this is someone he was tightly wound, tortured perfectionist.
Speaker 3: He openly said that it was really hard for him
Speaker 3: to find satisfaction, but that just kept driving him.
Speaker 2: He was just never satisfied.
Speaker 3: And as an executive he won everything as an executive
Speaker 3: that eluded him as a players said he only won
Speaker 3: one championship as a player, made the finals nine times,
Speaker 3: lost eight and that after a very difficult childhood upbringing.
Speaker 3: I mean that shaped him in ways that he would
Speaker 3: say he couldn't even control. He was very open about
Speaker 3: depression and his demons, but just the Jerry I knew,
Speaker 3: like he was just so driven to win.
Speaker 2: Nothing was enough. But I would also.
Speaker 3: Say in public, you know, he carried himself in this
Speaker 3: regal fashion.
Speaker 2: I mean he was always.
Speaker 3: Dressed, immaculately, hair never out of place. I can remember
Speaker 3: the All Star Game in Cleveland twenty twenty two when
Speaker 3: the NBA that was the All Star weekend, when the
Speaker 3: NBA announced its seventy five team, the seventy five greatest
Speaker 3: players in league history, and I was staying in the
Speaker 3: same hotel as a lot of the NBA alumni, the
Speaker 3: older players who were going to be celebrated as part
Speaker 3: of this. I can still see Jerry walking into that
Speaker 3: hotel lobby and just everything stopped. I mean, he was
Speaker 3: just absolutely magnetic. And you know, again just we're talking
Speaker 3: about one of the giants, giants of.
Speaker 2: The game, and.
Speaker 3: Like I said, I'm kind of a scattered mess this morning,
Speaker 3: because you know I was. I really feel fortunate that
Speaker 3: when I broke into the league in the nineties, first
Speaker 3: I was a Clippers beat writer for two years, and
Speaker 3: then I was a Lakers beat writer for two years.
Speaker 3: So I didn't get to see Algin Baylor play and
Speaker 3: I didn't get to see Jerry West play. And in
Speaker 3: those days, I've told this story that when I started
Speaker 3: in the nineties, just even getting highlights of those guys
Speaker 3: was so hard. The history of the game in the fifties, sixties,
Speaker 3: the seventies, it.
Speaker 2: Wasn't preserved well.
Speaker 3: So I remember when I got on the Clipper beat,
Speaker 3: I said, do you guys have.
Speaker 2: Any footage of Elgin Baylor?
Speaker 3: And the Clippers actually called the league and asked the
Speaker 3: league to put together an Elgin Baylor highlight reel. Just
Speaker 3: so I could see it, just so I could get
Speaker 3: a better feel for it. So to cover Elgin as
Speaker 3: the Clippers GM, and then to cover Jerry as the
Speaker 3: Lakers GM. In my first few years covering the league,
Speaker 3: I mean, it was it was really an education. And look,
Speaker 3: I think you probably remember this when the HBO series
Speaker 3: Winning Time came out.
Speaker 2: I know you remember this, and I was certainly not alone.
Speaker 3: A lot of us really were bothered by the portrayal
Speaker 3: of Jerry West because, yes, in private, he certainly had
Speaker 3: a temper and would certainly erupt on you on occasion.
Speaker 2: And I think.
Speaker 3: Every Beat writer who covered the Lakers has that kind
Speaker 3: of story. But they portrayed West as violently angry in public,
Speaker 3: and it was just like in public, Jerry West was
Speaker 3: again like royalty walking into a room. He wasn't like that,
Speaker 3: you He would never show that side in public. And
Speaker 3: the other thing that just bothered me so much about it,
Speaker 3: Jerry West was such a decisive executive and he made decisions.
Speaker 2: Hard decisions.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 3: Again, my first experience writing about the NBA was writing
Speaker 3: about the Lakers drafting Vlade Devots in nineteen eighty nine,
Speaker 3: and you know, Jerry was the one in that Laker
Speaker 3: front office. He was obviously the lead decision maker, but
Speaker 3: that was his call. The other voices in the Lakers
Speaker 3: organization were not saying, let's draft Vlade Devots from Europe,
Speaker 3: a player none of us have really seen. But that
Speaker 3: was Jerry's call. Jerry had the gumption to do it,
Speaker 3: and those were the kind of moves that he made.
Speaker 3: And just I just remember when the HBO show came out,
Speaker 3: so many people were so upset by the way West
Speaker 3: was portrayed, because you know, he was not this rage
Speaker 3: aholic in public.
Speaker 2: You know, he still.
Speaker 3: Moved as just gracefully as he did as a player.
Speaker 3: And so, like I said, I can go on and
Speaker 3: on and on, I have to say that, like I'm
Speaker 3: I'm going to try to gather my thoughts here. You know,
Speaker 3: we've got this finals game tonight and the series is
Speaker 3: in my city. But you know, I am definitely going
Speaker 3: to when I can step back and write a more
Speaker 3: polished tribute to Jerry, because, like I said, I've been
Speaker 3: doing this for more than thirty seasons myself, and in
Speaker 3: all that time, there is literally no one I more
Speaker 3: looked forward to speaking with than Jerry West. A conversation
Speaker 3: with him. Was that absorbing and entertaining.
Speaker 4: You know, you brought up that that All Star weekend
Speaker 4: a few years ago. What was it Cleveland? I believe
Speaker 4: it was in Cleveland.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Cleveland was the Yeah, All NBA seventy five All NBA.
Speaker 4: So I was the couple of things. I was one
Speaker 4: of the lone reporters that had access that the NBA
Speaker 4: gave access to be in the backstage.
Speaker 2: Which I am extremely jealous of extra. I mean, don't
Speaker 2: get me started on that Stein.
Speaker 4: That was a That was an experience, man, that was
Speaker 4: an experience that It was actually the first time I
Speaker 4: was in the same room with Michael Jordan.
Speaker 5: I was I've never met Michael Jordan until that day.
Speaker 4: And just being around those guys seventy five, being around
Speaker 4: the legends, and you know, Dame made the team as well,
Speaker 4: you know, you know, so that was just a cool
Speaker 4: experience to be around all those iconic figures. But that
Speaker 4: All Star weekend was the last time that I had
Speaker 4: an extended conversation with Jerry West.
Speaker 5: Do you remember Stein? We did T and T. It
Speaker 5: was pretty cool too.
Speaker 4: We did a it was like a draft drafting of
Speaker 4: the top seventy five players.
Speaker 5: It was only the top seventy five players, and.
Speaker 4: They were there were teams as symbol like it was
Speaker 4: a team of Chuck the inside.
Speaker 2: The Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 4: It was me and Shams on teams together. It was
Speaker 4: Dominique Wilkins had had a team.
Speaker 5: It was a draft. We all picked.
Speaker 2: You got the GM with Jerry West.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was but the thing he stole the show.
Speaker 4: So I would encourage people to go go back and
Speaker 4: check out that show redrafting of the top seventy five players.
Speaker 4: And what I mean by Jerry West still in the show,
Speaker 4: he had all these iconic stories. You know, he talked
Speaker 4: about rating for Kobe Bryant, you know, getting the rights
Speaker 4: to trade for Kobe Bryant, and what went into that
Speaker 4: Magic Johnson, the stories he had about Magic Johnson, Like
Speaker 4: he was the star of the show, which is very
Speaker 4: hard to do when the show cast consists of Charles Barkley.
Speaker 5: Jerry West stole the show. He was the star of
Speaker 5: that show. So please y'all go check that out. Man.
Speaker 4: Jerry dropped some legendary gems. He was just he was
Speaker 4: just himself, man. So that was a great time. That
Speaker 4: was actually the last time that again, I was able
Speaker 4: to have a conversation with him extensively, and so I
Speaker 4: appreciate being able to have that.
Speaker 5: Moment with him.
Speaker 3: I know that as soon as I get the chance,
Speaker 3: I'm going to take a step back, as I said,
Speaker 3: and put together a proper written tribute to the man.
Speaker 3: But you know, again, I was so looking forward to tonight.
Speaker 3: This is the first Finals game in Dallas since twenty eleven.
Speaker 3: I didn't get to cover the first two games of
Speaker 3: the series in Boston, and you just got here and
Speaker 3: I was so psyched to see you later tonight and
Speaker 3: cover this game. But honestly, now I'm really thinking of
Speaker 3: what is it going to be like when the NBA
Speaker 3: does that moment of silence tonight, and I just this
Speaker 3: just I had similar feelings. I was away in London
Speaker 3: when Bill Walton passed away, and that was the first
Speaker 3: thing I thought of when I knew I was going
Speaker 3: to miss the next game. I really wanted to be
Speaker 3: in the arena for that moment. It's both I want
Speaker 3: to be in the arena for the moment, but I'm
Speaker 3: also a little bit afraid about losing my composure on
Speaker 3: press row because again for me, personally. I don't want
Speaker 3: to make this about me, but it's I think it's
Speaker 3: hard when we lose figures like this, just legends of
Speaker 3: the game. It's hard not to think about what they
Speaker 3: meant to you personally and how your interactions were with them.
Speaker 3: And I've always said, like, I just feel so lucky
Speaker 3: having to be able to do this for the past
Speaker 3: three decades that I didn't get to see Bill Walton
Speaker 3: at his best, I didn't get to see Jerry West
Speaker 3: at his playing best, but to get the chance to
Speaker 3: cover them for so long in their post playing careers,
Speaker 3: and obviously Bill Walton had such an impact as a broadcaster.
Speaker 2: And look, Jerry West.
Speaker 3: I've always said this, and you could fill the debate
Speaker 3: shows for hours with this one, but Jerry West might
Speaker 3: be the greatest Laker we've ever seen. And that's a
Speaker 3: big thing to say when you're talking about a franchise
Speaker 3: that featured Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neil
Speaker 3: and Wilt Chamberlain for a spell and all the Laker
Speaker 3: greats that we can go.
Speaker 2: On on and on and on about.
Speaker 3: But Jerry did it as both a player and as
Speaker 3: an executive and he only won the one championship as
Speaker 3: a player because he and Algend Baylor, another Lakers legend,
Speaker 3: they had to deal with the buzz saw that was
Speaker 3: the Bill Russell Celtics. But for Jerry, he tried coaching
Speaker 3: but found his calling as a front office person and
Speaker 3: the championship teams he built as an executive. And again
Speaker 3: nineteen ninety six, a much younger and much skinnier Mark
Speaker 3: Stein Laker beat writer in the press conference and they
Speaker 3: work the draft day trade to get Kobe Bryant. A
Speaker 3: few weeks later, they complete the signing of Shaquille O'Neil
Speaker 3: away from the Orlando Magic. I don't know that any
Speaker 3: front office executive in any sport is ever going to
Speaker 3: have a better offseason than when Jerry West was able
Speaker 3: to bring both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neil to Lakerland.
Speaker 3: So it certainly gives him a claim in the argument
Speaker 3: to greatest Laker of all time. It's going to be
Speaker 3: Magic for a lot of Laker fans. It's going to
Speaker 3: be Kobe for a lot of Laker fans, younger Laker fans.
Speaker 3: But I mean, Jerry West was and enduring force of
Speaker 3: nature before you or I were even born. Man, we
Speaker 3: had all kinds of plans for this podcast previewing Game four.
Speaker 3: I know people want to talk about the Lakers coaching search.
Speaker 3: I am admittedly struggling to think about anything else right now.
Speaker 2: I'm just being honest with you.
Speaker 5: Yes, it's a tough time, you know.
Speaker 4: I'm looking at the statements that are being released by
Speaker 4: several teams and individuals. You know, Adam Silver, the commissioner
Speaker 4: in released the statement as well.
Speaker 2: Did you see what Michael Jordan said.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna reader Stein quote.
Speaker 4: I am so deeply satin at the news of Jerry's passing.
Speaker 4: He was truly a friend and mentor, like an older
Speaker 4: brother to me. I valued his friendship and knowledge. I
Speaker 4: always wish I could have played against him as a competitor,
Speaker 4: but the more I came to know him, I wish
Speaker 4: I had been a teammate. I admired his basketball insights,
Speaker 4: and he and I shared many similarities to how we
Speaker 4: approach the game. He will be forever missed. My condolences
Speaker 4: to his wife, Karen and his sons. Rest in peace logo. Yeah,
Speaker 4: that speaks volumes right there.
Speaker 3: When Michael Jordan offers that level of praise, I think
Speaker 3: that tells you.
Speaker 5: Yes, it speaks volumes, you know.
Speaker 4: Like I said, we're getting figures like Michael Jordan, Adam
Speaker 4: Silver issuing statements, teams issuing statements. The Lakers, who we know,
Speaker 4: you know, he had it ended up having a strained
Speaker 4: relationship with that organization. They have yet to issue a statement,
Speaker 4: but they did tweet honoring the legendary Jerry West and
Speaker 4: just put a picture of him with the the year
Speaker 4: was born and the year he passed. So be interested
Speaker 4: to see what they do moving forward, because we know
Speaker 4: they you know, it was kind of a rocky road
Speaker 4: towards the end for those two.
Speaker 3: You mentioned that strained relationship with the Lakers, and there's
Speaker 3: no question that in recent years there was a complete
Speaker 3: breakdown in Jerry's relationship with the Lakers, which is just
Speaker 3: so difficult to process still because he's meant so much
Speaker 3: to that franchise. But obviously he was a consultant and
Speaker 3: part of a championship brain trust in Golden State. Steve
Speaker 3: Balmer went all out to bring Jerry to the Clippers,
Speaker 3: and the Clippers obviously have not won a championship to
Speaker 3: match Golden State, but Balmer brought Jerry into the Clippers'
Speaker 3: front office in hopes that his wisdom and experience could
Speaker 3: help them finally break through and win it all. In
Speaker 3: twenty eighteen, I was assigned to write a long piece
Speaker 3: on Jerry for the New York Times, and that was
Speaker 3: at the end or approaching the end of his first
Speaker 3: season with the Clippers, And that was a story that
Speaker 3: meant a lot to me to go to La and
Speaker 3: spend some time with him and chronicle that move to
Speaker 3: the Clippers. But there's so much we could and should
Speaker 3: and thought we'd be talking about in this podcast today.
Speaker 3: Obviously the Finals, the Celtics are up two to zero,
Speaker 3: the series shifts now to Dallas. We're not sure if
Speaker 3: Christaps Porzingis is going to play in this Game three,
Speaker 3: so a huge game in.
Speaker 2: The series tonight.
Speaker 3: And obviously the Lakers coaching search and their inability to
Speaker 3: convince Dan Hurley to leave Yukon. There is so much
Speaker 3: we could be talking about on those fronts. But on
Speaker 3: the Finals front, we're so close to Game three game
Speaker 3: time now, we're gonna come back tomorrow or Friday with
Speaker 3: a podcast before Game four. That just makes more sense,
Speaker 3: I think for us to be able to react to
Speaker 3: where the series is instead of saying a bunch of
Speaker 3: stuff now that might be invalidated by what happens in
Speaker 3: this game three and depending on whether porzingis played. And again,
Speaker 3: I know there's great interest in the state of the
Speaker 3: Lakers coaching search, and we will get into all that
Speaker 3: next time, because it just I gotta be honest, man,
Speaker 3: it just doesn't feel right to try to pay tribute
Speaker 3: to the logo a legend, a player, coach executive of
Speaker 3: Jerry west stature, and then to transition to the coaching
Speaker 3: search that his former franchise is going to.
Speaker 2: That's all over the map right now.
Speaker 3: So I think those topics we can get back to
Speaker 3: them in the next pod. They'll still obviously both the
Speaker 3: finals and the Lakers coaching search will be ongoing, and
Speaker 3: we can get into those then. But I hope you
Speaker 3: guys can understand to me, and I think, Chris, I
Speaker 3: hope you agree with me.
Speaker 2: I think you agree with me.
Speaker 3: It just doesn't feel doesn't feel easy to transition into
Speaker 3: strict basketball matters right now.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's a time and place, and right now I
Speaker 4: think the time is for us to mourn the loss
Speaker 4: and remember and give our proper tributes and condolencence to
Speaker 4: the family.
Speaker 5: Of Jeri West.
Speaker 3: Absolutely well said condolences to Karen, to everyone in the family.
Speaker 3: We both know, Johnny and Ryan, both executives in today's NBA.
Speaker 3: Just hurting for everyone who knew and loved Jerry West
Speaker 3: and for basketball fans everywhere because what he meant to
Speaker 3: this league. There are just few individuals who have contributed
Speaker 3: as much to this game, to this sport, to this
Speaker 3: league as the one and only Jerry West.
Speaker 2: Everyone.
Speaker 3: Thanks a mil for joining us on this. I know
Speaker 3: it turned out to be a very melancholy edition of
Speaker 3: this League Uncut.
Speaker 2: Appreciate your understanding. I hope you.
Speaker 3: Enjoyed with us though, reminiscing in some of the stories
Speaker 3: we've told about Jerry West because he was such an
Speaker 3: iconic figure in this game. Chris and I, as I said,
Speaker 3: we are in the same city for the next two
Speaker 3: games the next few nights, so we will be back
Speaker 3: together again very soon here on this league uncut to
Speaker 3: get into everything going on in the series, update you
Speaker 3: on this crazy Lakers coaching search. We will do all
Speaker 3: of that next time. Thanks again for listening. We will
Speaker 3: be back with you very very soon