(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, the basketball world was rocked to its core when news broke about the passing of NBA legend and Los Angeles Lakers icon Jerry West.
West made a name for himself as one of the first superstar players the Lakers ever had, and although he was never able to get the best of the Boston Celtics during his time with the storied franchise, he still was able to win a title as well as earn the distinction as one of the best players in league history.
Along with being among the greatest players to ever play the game, West was equally successful, if not more so, as an NBA executive for the Lakers and a few other teams.
Although West played a major role in the team bringing in Magic Johnson and putting together the Showtime Lakers, who went on to win five NBA titles, he also put together another one of the league’s best guard-center duos of all time with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
As Paul Hembekides of ESPN points out, West made the bold move to trade one of the best centers in the league at the time, Vlade Divac, in exchange for Bryant and a week later signed O’Neal in NBA free agency.
On July 11, 1996, Jerry West traded Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant.
On July 18, 1996, Jerry West signed Shaq as a free agent.
Perhaps the greatest week any sports executive has ever had.
— Paul Hembekides (Hembo) (@PaulHembo) June 12, 2024
That’s about as good of a week stretch that any NBA general manager has ever had, as he made the risky decision to part with Divac for the 13th pick in the draft that year, with Bryant coming out of high school, and then putting a ton of money on the table to replace their starting center with O’Neal.
Three NBA titles later, West looked like a genius once again.
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