Lakers Don’t Forget to Stay With Clutch

By Manouk Akopyan

LOS ANGELES – It started with “Mr. Consistency,” “The Logo,” whatever you love to call him, delivering the Western Conference trophy to a young, googly-eyed Lakers team just after marching through the rival San Antonio Spurs four-games-to-one. 

Jerry West, recipient of these trophies just eight years ago, single-handedly build one of the greatest Lakers teams in franchise history this side of Showtime. In a classy move by the organization, realizing that West was the interval component of the Lakers success in the 2000’s, the team invited him to once again share the joy and success of winning, something he will have a difficult time doing in Memphis. 

West can now claim that he is responsible for building two separate chapters of Lakers basketball, one of which began in the summer of 1996 and made an unexpected visit once again in 2008.West, then Lakers General Manager, brought in talent to a team which was struggling to hold its aura as “the” franchise after failing to advance past the first round with a triumvirate return of Magic Johnson the year before. 

West signed the “Big Diesel” to be the centerpiece and foundation of a team searching for its identity for a then sports record, seven year, $122 million dollar contract. He traded aging center Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for a young, raw, scrawny, high-school phenom out of Philadelphia by the name of Kobe Bryant. He drafted point guard Derek Fisher out of Arkansas; he traded for small-forward Rick Fox from the Boston Celtics and also Robert Horry from the Phoenix Suns, role players that would take the Lakers to new heights. 

West brought in the superstar, veteran leadership, complimentary role players and a solid rookie core to a team which already had Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones entering their primes. 

And now, the man who gave Los Angeles fans the ultimate gift all those years, returned the favor once again this season with new hope to Lakers fans, elongated job security to Mitch Kupchak, polished the tarnished credibility of the Buss ownership and sufficed Bryant with a heavy-duty pacifier. 

How can a man like West, who basically free-timed it for the Lakers this season and deserves a ring himself if they hold off the Celtics, fix all the aforementioned nuances with one shot? Keep in mind we are talking about a man who never shunned from pressure and always delivered a shot when needed, earning him the nickname “Mr. Clutch.” 

The answer is not brain surgery nor complicated. It’s Pau Gasol, the hand picked, delicately-wrapped present West delivered to the city four months ago, just as he did once again Thursday night delivering the pre-cursor to the Larry O’Brien trophy.
 

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