It is a sad day on the NBA court, as Los Angeles Lakers former star Jerry West has passed away. The 1972 NBA champion was 86 at the time of his passing and will be remembered as a legend. However, there were times when he shared a tumultuous relationship with the Lakers. All this was even though he had been with them for his entire career. West is known for being introverted, but he was also competitive and never hesitated to hit out when wronged.

Last year, he appeared in a small talk and made some interesting comments. Fondly known as ‘The Logo‘, he said, “That’s who I am. I was not afraid. Today, there are, again I was getting after players that are drafted today. Everyone, competitive people, the word ‘dogs’ comes up a lot. That guy’s a dog, I was a wolf. I used to eat dogs.”

Current NBA star LeBron James couldn’t help but agree with him

Despite plenty of love lost between the Lakers and West, the team’s star, LeBron James still respected him. He retweeted West’s comments and declared that he spoke no lies. It does make one wonder what happened between the Los Angeles Lakers and Jerry West, to see the relationship decline.

via Imago

He even told the Athletic that he was ‘disappointed‘ that his relationship with the Lakers soured. Even he was a bit flummoxed and confessed that he should have played elsewhere. According to him, the LA Lakers did not appreciate him so much. After his playing career ended, West became the manager for some time before switching to an executive role within the team.

That lasted until 2000, and two years later he took up an executive role at the Memphis Grizzlies. West stuck around until 2007 and joined the Golden State Warriors in 2011 until 2017. Finally, he returned to Los Angeles, but with the LA Clippers, from 2017 onwards until his passing now.