Jerry West, who handed away earlier this 12 months, blames himself for what the Lakers did to his son, Ryan, in 2019.
“I virtually want,” West informed ESPN, “that I had by no means performed or labored for them.”
The youthful West noticed his time with the Lakers come to an finish after the Clippers landed Kawhi Leonard after which Paul George).
The opposite LA workforce landed these two stars partly due to Jerry West, who labored for the group for quite a few years beginning in 2017.
“The day after Leonard joined the Clippers, the workforce traded for star swingman Paul George, immediately making them title contenders.
“Later that month, on July 27, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Jerry West’s son, Ryan, who had spent 10 years with the Lakers and final labored because the director of participant personnel, was leaving the group.
“Group sources made clear Ryan wasn’t leaving on his personal accord. Two sources near the matter stated Ryan’s departure was tied to the idea of there being no room for development inside the franchise, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported.
“Jerry noticed it in another way.”
The week after his son’s departure, West stated,“They let him go due to me,”
Ryan was devastated on the time, having labored there for over a decade.
“He (the elder West) thought-about his son, who now works as a professional personnel scout for the Detroit Pistons, to be collateral injury in his conflict with members of Lakers’ management,” Holmes wrote.
“The Lakers declined to remark for this story.
“(The elder) West stated he apologized to Ryan, whom he described as ‘devastated.’”
A former longtime Lakers government likened the entire scenario to a television drama.
“It’s like a cleaning soap opera,” The LA exec informed ESPN. “There’s fallout, which is hurtful. Ryan, to me, it appears to be like like he paid the worth for all this pettiness.”
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