Report: West Close to Job in Memphis

A Laker since 1960, when he arrived a rookie guard from West Virginia, Jerry West is close to leaving the organization for Memphis, Tenn., where he would run the basketball operations for the Grizzlies, an NBA source has told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

Those close to West insist that the Hall-of-Fame player and builder of two Laker championship eras has not struck a deal with Grizzly owner Michael Heisley. West continues to mull whether he would return full time to the game, and whether the Grizzlies or Atlanta Hawks would be a favorable destination, those sources said.

“There’s not a deal that’s signed, there’s not a deal in principle, there’s not a deal in place,” a source familiar with the discussions said.

According to the Commercial-Appeal, West is expected to be named president of the Grizzlies, with control over all basketball decisions. Dick Versace, who has that title now and has three years left on a five-year deal, would be demoted to general manager. Under orders from Heisley, Versace fired general manager Billy Knight last week.

West, 63, resigned from the Lakers nearly two years ago, citing health reasons, but gradually resumed scouting and advisory roles, and was a valued consultant to his protege, Mitch Kupchak, who had risen to assume West’s decision-making position.

After building a five-time champion in the 1980s, when Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy carried the dynasty, West retooled the Lakers a decade later.

Led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have won the last two titles.

The best-of-seven first round, a possibility by next year’s NBA postseason, was received with something less than full support Tuesday in El Segundo, where the Lakers prepared for Game 2 of their best-of-five series against the Portland Trail Blazers.

While sometimes it seems that the last thing basketball players want to do is play basketball, center Shaquille O’Neal said it simply is time to stop tinkering with the game.

“I want to play the same game that Kareem and Wilt [Chamberlain] and Bill Russell played,” O’Neal said. “This new bull, I’m not happy with this new-age stuffIf they formed a basketball union with guys like Kareem and Magic and Isiah [Thomas], and they made the rules up, I’d respect it and I’d have to let it go. But guys just sitting on their [butts] all day saying, ‘We need to do this, we need to do that,’ that’s not good for the game. And it’s boring. I will not participate in it.”

And he stood up and left.

While the Lakers would seem to have the most to lose in a short series, where they’d be more vulnerable to a weaker team that happened to be playing well, Coach Phil Jackson agreed with O’Neal.

“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “It’s another money-grabbing scheme, to play seven-game series.

“Obviously everybody wants more money in the pool, especially in the playoffs, but it’s a grind the way it is.”