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Posted: **Mon May 14, 2018 4:57 am**

“I don’t just want to be a figurehead,” West said. “You want to be a part of the decision-making process. I don’t have the final decision here, but I do have a voice.”

When it comes to making such calculations, West is the antithesis of the modern N.B.A. executive. He openly disdains how much teams rely on statistics in the N.B.A.’s analytics era.

Yet the Clippers will put up with that stubborn streak in exchange for the instant credibility they get from West’s presence. It also doesn’t hurt that the Clippers’ new front-office cabinet features Michael Winger, the highly rated salary-cap guru and strategist, as Frank’s top aide.

The idea to pursue West came from Ballmer’s former Harvard classmate-turned-Clippers minority shareholder Dennis Wong, who was once part of Golden State’s ownership group.

“He kept saying, ‘We need a guy like Jerry West,’ ” Ballmer said. “I kept saying, ‘Show me one guy in the world who’s like Jerry West.’ Then last season Dennis said: ‘Did you know he’s near the end of his contract? Jerry West is like Jerry West.’”

Ballmer and West eventually came to terms on a two-year deal. “If he still wants to do it, we can go beyond that,” Ballmer said. “Now that I know him better, I can’t see him retiring.”

Neither can West.

Marc Stein, New York Times

Posted: **Mon May 14, 2018 8:26 am**

It's only two years? I thought it was 5? I know he said this is his last stop.

Posted: **Mon May 14, 2018 8:38 am**

Btw, like that this piece confirms what we already "knew" from other evidence/ context:

He told Ballmer to trade Griffin.

Good.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2018 6:20 am**

Quake Griffin wrote:Btw, like that this piece confirms what we already "knew" from other evidence/ context:

He told Ballmer to trade Griffin.

Good.

Right right, Mr Quake. Jerry West stood up and took full personal responsibility, getting Ballmer [and Doc, if you will] fully off the moral and political hook.

“No one wants to do that, particularly with someone like Blake Griffin,” West says now. “It was very difficult for everyone, especially Steve, because he really liked Blake personally. But this franchise was really stuck. There was nowhere for it to go. You have to figure out how far away you really are and how we can get there.”

The Clippers org has clean skirts because nobody is gonna question The Logo. Frankly, Jerry already earned his $10M per annum just for that. He saved us 10x that in sunk costs.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2018 1:17 pm**

Not very surprising that it was West who pushed for the Blake trade. Ballmer has always come off as a pretty friendly guy and not the type of guy to make a move like that. This is also why I maintain that if West pushed for Doc to be out, he would be out and if Doc is staying, West has not pushed for him to be out.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2018 1:40 pm**

og15 wrote:Not very surprising that it was West who pushed for the Blake trade. Ballmer has always come off as a pretty friendly guy and not the type of guy to make a move like that. This is also why I maintain that if West pushed for Doc to be out, he would be out and if Doc is staying, West has not pushed for him to be out.

While I had this same thought (and mostly agree), I highly doubt West was pounding the table to sign Griffin only to do a complete 180 6 months later. I wonder if there is more context. Was he a soft yes or a hard yes when Griffin was signed? Or was he in the camp of, sign him, don't lose him for nothing because we can always trade him (I think NOLA is in that situation this offseason with Boogie Cousins).

And with that said, where is he really on Doc Rivers? Is he pounding the table for Doc? Is he a soft yes and willing to be flexible on whether or not to keep him after 6 more months or a full season? He has made a comment I believe that the only people who say his job is unsafe are people in the media.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2018 2:03 pm**

It is likely that he was in the camp of sign him to not lose him for nothing, but also evaluating to see what Griffin could really do as a sole leader and first option.

In terms of Doc, he said at the beginning of the season that they were evaluating Doc as a coach this season, so to me the only way Doc is still around is if he passed the evaluation and at least has the minimum approval by West. How much West likes Doc, I have no clue, but at the least we know he is not against Doc and does not believe he needs to go.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2018 6:41 pm**

og15 wrote:It is likely that he was in the camp of sign him to not lose him for nothing, but also evaluating to see what Griffin could really do as a sole leader and first option.

In terms of Doc, he said at the beginning of the season that they were evaluating Doc as a coach this season, so to me the only way Doc is still around is if he passed the evaluation and at least has the minimum approval by West. How much West likes Doc, I have no clue, but at the least we know he is not against Doc and does not believe he needs to go.

This is kind of a limbo year as we wait for contracts to expire. No harm in letting Doc stay then reevaluate next summer.