Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West was allegedly “uncomfortable” with the romantic relationship that existed between Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss.
“In the ensuing months, a second element compounded the tension: the romantic relationship between Jeanie and Jackson, a partnership West was uncomfortable with and one about which he privately voiced his concerns to confidants,” ESPN’s Baxter Holmes wrote. “Word of his displeasure eventually reached Jeanie.”
When Buss and Jackson began dating, Buss was the executive vice president of business operations for the Lakers, and Jackson was the team’s new head coach. West, meanwhile, was the team’s general manager at the time.
Jackson coached the Lakers to a title in his first season with the team (the 1999-00 campaign), and West departed from the franchise after that championship.
But the Lakers’ title in 2000 marked only the beginning of an incredibly successful stretch for the organization under Jackson. Jackson was the head coach of Los Angeles through the 2010-11 season, and with him at the helm, the Lakers won five titles and appeared in seven NBA Finals.
Los Angeles is still the most recent NBA team to win three titles in a row, as the Lakers won in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Those Lakers teams were spearheaded by Shaquille O’Neal and a young Kobe Bryant.
Then, years later, the Lakers won two more titles in 2009 and 2010, though Bryant was no longer teammates with O’Neal during those championship runs. Rather, he played alongside another star big man in Pau Gasol.
West helped set the groundwork for one of the most decorated eras in Lakers franchise history, as he worked to convince the organization to hire Jackson after the coaching legend helped Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls win several championships.
But for as great of a general manager as West was for the Lakers, he was perhaps equally skilled as a player. He spent the entirety of his 14-year NBA career in Los Angeles and staked his claim as one of the top guards ever to put on a Lakers uniform.
West was a 14-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA selection and led the Lakers to the 1972 NBA title.
