Post by rainman on Jun 4, 2008 6:10:46 GMT -5
Jerry West recalls Lakers-Celtics battles all too well
By Jack Bogaczyk
Charleston Daily Mail
Wed, Jun 04 2008
— Jerry West remembers oh so very well ... not that he cherishes the recollection.
With the NBA Finals again the stage for the storied Lakers-Celtics rivalry for an 11th time, the West Virginia legend and former Los Angeles star, coach and executive is getting plenty of chances to recall some days of his greatest basketball frustration.
West turned 70 last Wednesday, but he remains the competitor he was as a kid in Chelyan, as a star at East Bank High and at WVU, from where he signed a $1,500 bonus and got a $15,000 salary as a Laker rookie in 1960-61.
“You may not want to think about it, but it’s impossible not to think about it,” West said this week from his suburban Los Angeles home. “When you’ve competed at a high level, and had a great measure of success like we did, you feel the hurt of losing even more.”
In his 14 seasons as the Lakers’ backcourt star, Los Angeles was 1-8 in the NBA Finals, beating the Knicks in five games in 1972. West and Co. was 0-6 against Boston from 1962 and ’69.
Play it again, Sam Jones?
“The pain of knowing we should have won at least a couple of those (series) against the Celtics still hurts,” West said. “When it’s happened again and again, it’s not real fun to relive it. I know we always felt scarred by that. I know I did.”
While the Lakers continued to prosper under the now-retired West’s front-office leadership — the franchise is in its 29th NBA Finals, dating to 1949 in Minneapolis — Boston has returned from hard times to re-establish the league’s foremost rivalry in the championship series for the first time since 1987.
Los Angeles is in its fifth Finals in nine years and has won five titles since the Celtics last wore an NBA crown, in 1986.
“For the league, obviously this is important, and to have these two teams in the finals, (Commissioner) David Stern has to be feeling pretty good about himself,” said West, whose silhouette is the NBA logo. “It’s an interesting paradox really.
“You get varying responses from fans, and TV ratings, depending on which teams are in the playoffs. During the regular season, it’s about major media markets. It’s a star-driven league. Cleveland (with LeBron James) is on TV all of the time. So are the Lakers, with Kobe (Bryant).
“In the Finals in recent years, you’ve had some very good teams and people didn’t pay as much attention. But now it comes to the Lakers and Celtics, and it’s all about the teams, the history, and not the individual stars.
“Boston is an incredible success story. L.A. is L.A. Boston hasn’t sustained that kind of success. The Celtics have even missed the playoffs completely for a time.
“The Lakers have been enormously successful. This isn’t being disparaging of the Celtics in any way because Boston has had great teams and great players, but I think the Lakers have contributed even more to the mystique of the Celtics because of what’s happened in the past.”
With the finals opening Thursday night in Beantown, West knows he will continue to be asked about one of sport’s greatest rivalries. That’s OK, even if he, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird aren’t suiting up.
“I think people look at this, Lakers and Celtics against each other, and it just stirs memories and they feel good about that,” said West, who will return to Morgantown this weekend as a speaker for WVU Coach Bob Huggins’ fantasy camp.
“Those of us who played in the Stone Ages, me included, people still remember us and want to see us and people want to interview us, and that’s fine. But it’s history. The past is just that, the past.”
As for the present, West views the coming NBA attraction from his alma mater with mixed feelings.
He figures Mountaineer junior forward Joe Alexander “will be a lottery pick” in the June 26 draft — and at least the highest WVU player selected since Ron Williams was the No. 9 overall pick in 1968 by the San Francisco Warriors.
“If you watched, you saw Joe improve a lot from the first of (this past) season, but he just hasn’t played much basketball growing up,” said West, who has talked with Huggins about Alexander in recent months. “To be candid, I think he’d have been better served to stay one more year, but he’s going to be in the draft.
“He improved tremendously during the season, and now he’s moved way up (in the draft). His work ethic is great and he’s a tough kid and has the whole package. He’s a handsome kid, too. And Joe’s athletic ability is way up there. He honestly could be the best athlete in the whole draft.
“He’s come leaps and bounds, but he still needs to work on his recognition of situations within the game. The skill level is up there, and that kind of player is very attractive to NBA clubs, but in my mind, Joe’s game still needs a lot of work.”
By Jack Bogaczyk
Charleston Daily Mail
Wed, Jun 04 2008
— Jerry West remembers oh so very well ... not that he cherishes the recollection.
With the NBA Finals again the stage for the storied Lakers-Celtics rivalry for an 11th time, the West Virginia legend and former Los Angeles star, coach and executive is getting plenty of chances to recall some days of his greatest basketball frustration.
West turned 70 last Wednesday, but he remains the competitor he was as a kid in Chelyan, as a star at East Bank High and at WVU, from where he signed a $1,500 bonus and got a $15,000 salary as a Laker rookie in 1960-61.
“You may not want to think about it, but it’s impossible not to think about it,” West said this week from his suburban Los Angeles home. “When you’ve competed at a high level, and had a great measure of success like we did, you feel the hurt of losing even more.”
In his 14 seasons as the Lakers’ backcourt star, Los Angeles was 1-8 in the NBA Finals, beating the Knicks in five games in 1972. West and Co. was 0-6 against Boston from 1962 and ’69.
Play it again, Sam Jones?
“The pain of knowing we should have won at least a couple of those (series) against the Celtics still hurts,” West said. “When it’s happened again and again, it’s not real fun to relive it. I know we always felt scarred by that. I know I did.”
While the Lakers continued to prosper under the now-retired West’s front-office leadership — the franchise is in its 29th NBA Finals, dating to 1949 in Minneapolis — Boston has returned from hard times to re-establish the league’s foremost rivalry in the championship series for the first time since 1987.
Los Angeles is in its fifth Finals in nine years and has won five titles since the Celtics last wore an NBA crown, in 1986.
“For the league, obviously this is important, and to have these two teams in the finals, (Commissioner) David Stern has to be feeling pretty good about himself,” said West, whose silhouette is the NBA logo. “It’s an interesting paradox really.
“You get varying responses from fans, and TV ratings, depending on which teams are in the playoffs. During the regular season, it’s about major media markets. It’s a star-driven league. Cleveland (with LeBron James) is on TV all of the time. So are the Lakers, with Kobe (Bryant).
“In the Finals in recent years, you’ve had some very good teams and people didn’t pay as much attention. But now it comes to the Lakers and Celtics, and it’s all about the teams, the history, and not the individual stars.
“Boston is an incredible success story. L.A. is L.A. Boston hasn’t sustained that kind of success. The Celtics have even missed the playoffs completely for a time.
“The Lakers have been enormously successful. This isn’t being disparaging of the Celtics in any way because Boston has had great teams and great players, but I think the Lakers have contributed even more to the mystique of the Celtics because of what’s happened in the past.”
With the finals opening Thursday night in Beantown, West knows he will continue to be asked about one of sport’s greatest rivalries. That’s OK, even if he, Bill Russell, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird aren’t suiting up.
“I think people look at this, Lakers and Celtics against each other, and it just stirs memories and they feel good about that,” said West, who will return to Morgantown this weekend as a speaker for WVU Coach Bob Huggins’ fantasy camp.
“Those of us who played in the Stone Ages, me included, people still remember us and want to see us and people want to interview us, and that’s fine. But it’s history. The past is just that, the past.”
As for the present, West views the coming NBA attraction from his alma mater with mixed feelings.
He figures Mountaineer junior forward Joe Alexander “will be a lottery pick” in the June 26 draft — and at least the highest WVU player selected since Ron Williams was the No. 9 overall pick in 1968 by the San Francisco Warriors.
“If you watched, you saw Joe improve a lot from the first of (this past) season, but he just hasn’t played much basketball growing up,” said West, who has talked with Huggins about Alexander in recent months. “To be candid, I think he’d have been better served to stay one more year, but he’s going to be in the draft.
“He improved tremendously during the season, and now he’s moved way up (in the draft). His work ethic is great and he’s a tough kid and has the whole package. He’s a handsome kid, too. And Joe’s athletic ability is way up there. He honestly could be the best athlete in the whole draft.
“He’s come leaps and bounds, but he still needs to work on his recognition of situations within the game. The skill level is up there, and that kind of player is very attractive to NBA clubs, but in my mind, Joe’s game still needs a lot of work.”
