NBA Icon Jerry West Insulted At Being Left Off 'Top 5 Lakers List' By Team Owner Jeanie Buss: 'One Of Most Offensive Things I've Ever Heard'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Basketball legend Jerry West is insulted being left off a list of the top five Lakers of all-time. On a podcast last month, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss listed her top five Lakers ever as Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Phil Jackson.
Noticeably absent was the 82-year-old West, whose silhouette graces the NBA logo.
West appeared on the Hoop Du Jour Podcast with Peter Vecsey this week, where he did not mince words at being left out of Buss' top five.
"I saw the other day Jeanie Buss made a statement, the five most important Lakers, one of the most offensive things I've ever heard in my life. I was there a lot of times, had a lot of success," West told Vescey. "Be curious to know if they would have had that success if I hadn't been there."
"And I don't ever take credit for stuff, I don't. When I was around, maybe I was just a good luck charm," West went on. "But I do know, that when this thing fell apart, there was a lot of years where they weren't very good."
West won one title with the Lakers as a player in 1972. He also served as general manager and executive vice president of the team from 1982 to 2000.
He was instrumental in the trade that brought Bryant to the Lakers in 1996.