Is Jerry West the greatest G.M in the league history?

[TonyMontana]

15 finals and 9 titles since 80s!

Everytime I hear the word Dynasty the first thing that comes to my mind is Jerry West. He created the 80s dynasty (1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988) to Los Angeles. and then the 90s and 2000 Lakers. in creating the great 1980s Lakers dynasty, which brought four championship rings (1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988) to Los Angeles. The the blockbuster trade of Kobe/Vlade Divac signing free agent center Shaquille O'Neal. Somehow he managed to trade Vlade for the 13th pick then the Lakers didnt have the cap to sing Shaq so with few days he sends Anthony Peeler and George Lynch to Vancouver for nothing and he opened up the space under the salary cap and singed Shaq for 121 mil for 7 years. I think that was by far the best trade and signing by any G.M. Then a few years later he he went signing 6 times NBA champion Phil Jackson as a coach.

He built the foundation and his core players that are still the main blocks in our title this past decade. How many G.Ms have done that?

[LakerZombie]

Well theres no questioning hes def benefited the lakers but what about his time in Memphis? They never got out the first round...and to my knowledge i dont think he was acting GM when we got Gasol....tho i could be wrong.

[96 Til Infiniti]

Well theres no questioning hes def benefited the lakers but what about his time in Memphis? They never got out the first round...and to my knowledge i dont think he was acting GM when we got Gasol....tho i could be wrong.

To be a successful GM, you need an ownership that is willing to spend to win.

[TonyMontana]

Well theres no questioning hes def benefited the lakers but what about his time in Memphis? They never got out the first round...and to my knowledge i dont think he was acting GM when we got Gasol....tho i could be wrong.

To be a successful GM, you need an ownership that is willing to spend to win.

And time. West was a player a coach and then a G.M for I believe 3 decades.

[Boognish]

Red is probably the GOAT, right?

[stunnar0b]

no question hes the best gm ever, after Mchale gave garnett to boston west gave us pau and how has that worked out again best gm ever, too bad he struggle so much with the dreaded celtics

[LakerZombie]

To be a successful GM, you need an ownership that is willing to spend to win.

True, good point.

[salmahayek]

West is one of the best, but not the best.

Dr. Jerry Buss has been the constant with three different dynasties, two different coaches, and two different GMs. Buss is the mainstay.

West had too much of an advantage of being the GM of a team owned by Buss.

The Lakers have always spent the money to have multiple great players. Players want to play in Los Angeles. Shaq wanted to be a Laker and took less money to do so. That alone set up a dynasty at the beginning and end of this decade. The Lakers signed Shaq who dominated the league to win three titles, which his acquisition also led to the trading a Divac to Charlotte for some kid named Kobe Bryant who has been involved with two different Laker dynasties.

Things did not work out quite as well for West when he went to GM the Grizz - the difference - ownership.

West is a lot like Phil Jackson - unquestionably great and one of the best of all time, but you have a hard time saying they are indisputably the best since they always had a stacked deck. While there is the argument that it takes talent to acquire and manage and coach great talent - I agree - but again find it hard to say they are indisputably the best of all time.

[It_Was_Typed]

Ummm Memphis did spend money when West was in charge.

[Sedale Threatt]

Red is probably the GOAT, right?

He gets my vote. His track record was unreal -- 16 championships in 29 years, from 1957 to 1986. Drafted Bill Russell, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens and Sam Jones (among others). Traded for Bob Cousy, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. And those are just the big names. Total douche, but no question he was a shrewd, shrewd man.

[Sedale Threatt]

West is one of the best, but not the best.

Dr. Jerry Buss has been the constant with three different dynasties, two different coaches, and two different GMs. Buss is the mainstay.

West had too much of an advantage of being the GM of a team owned by Buss.

The Lakers have always spent the money to have multiple great players. Players want to play in Los Angeles. Shaq wanted to be a Laker and took less money to do so. That alone set up a dynasty at the beginning and end of this decade. The Lakers signed Shaq who dominated the league to win three titles, which his acquisition also led to the trading a Divac to Charlotte for some kid named Kobe Bryant who has been involved with two different Laker dynasties.

Things did not work out quite as well for West when he went to GM the Grizz - the difference - ownership.

West is a lot like Phil Jackson - unquestionably great and one of the best of all time, but you have a hard time saying they are indisputably the best since they always had a stacked deck. While there is the argument that it takes talent to acquire and manage and coach great talent - I agree - but again find it hard to say they are indisputably the best of all time.

All Buss did was cut the checks, in between gambling binges and trolling for teenagers. West did all the hard work. Not to mention that the Lakers have had an immense amount of good fortune over the years -- winning a coin flip for the right to draft Magic, winning another with San Diego to draft Worthy, etc., etc.

[ALL HAIL]

Easy yes.

The hardest thing to do as a GM is to rebuild after a dynasty ... he did that.

No question in my mind.

[Dr Aki]

Well theres no questioning hes def benefited the lakers but what about his time in Memphis? They never got out the first round...and to my knowledge i dont think he was acting GM when we got Gasol....tho i could be wrong.

jerry west came within a hair's breath of landing the #1 pick in the 2003 draft and pairing lebron with pau gasol.

don't tell me he couldn't get it done

[LAKESHOW]

the thread is about GMs, not OWNERs.

there is NO DOUBT who the BEST OWNER in the game is . . .

the thread however speaks about GMs, and Mr. West must get his due.

now if the thread was about ownership . . .

[salmahayek]

I think ownership has a huge impact on the potential effectiveness of a GM and that needs to be taken into consideration.

Is West one of the best or possibly the best NBA GM of all time? Absolutely. I was just pointing out that he had a little bit of an advantage with Buss as his owner as opposed to what other GMs may have had.

IMO when you are discussing a GOAT situation, you need to look at the picture a bit more broadly rather than over - simplification.

As far as writing checks? Uh, that's a pretty big part of any successful business operation. If you don't cut the checks - you want have talented people in your business and you end up out of business.

Luck with the draft? Sure, but let's not forget the Lakers made the right picks with Buss at the helm. The Lakers were looking at Sydney Moncrief instead of Magic (which I believe West wanted Moncrief, since the Lakers already had Norm Nixon at the point) but Buss wanted Magic - hey it was LA.

In '82, they could have drafted Terry Cummings or Dominique Wilkins (which that may have been incredible playing with Magic and Kareem, but may not have fit into the team concept as well) instead of Worthy - so yes, there was luck, but obviously, the Lakers made the right choices with their "luck" - and Buss was a part of that, even more so back then than now.

[TonyMontana]

the thread is about GMs, not OWNERs.


now if the thread was about ownership . . .

Exactly........... thats why I gave up on the Shaq thread. Certain posters on here tend to derail threads so bad that by the second page nothing makes sense.

[stunnar0b]

the thread is about GMs, not OWNERs.


now if the thread was about ownership . . .

Exactly........... thats why I gave up on the Shaq thread. Certain posters on here tend to derail threads so bad that by the second page nothing makes sense.

and your point___ who gives a sheit what people are talking about, its a internet forum for crying out loud, people are going to add their opinion and get response that are not exactly concerning the question, the shaq thread was completely irrelevant, no wonder people moved on that question

[TonyMontana]

the thread is about GMs, not OWNERs.


now if the thread was about ownership . . .

Exactly........... thats why I gave up on the Shaq thread. Certain posters on here tend to derail threads so bad that by the second page nothing makes sense.

and your point___ who gives a sheit what people are talking about, its a internet forum for crying out loud, people are going to add their opinion and get response that are not exactly concerning the question, the shaq thread was completely irrelevant, no wonder people moved on that question

WTH are YOU talking about??

Your one of those posters I was talking about that derails threads with your nonsense B.S. Maybe you should've started on the R&G of realgm and read the rules before you posted "Hi Im stunnar0b and Im a Laker fan" a few months ago ROOKIE. then maybe just maybe we would'nt be sitting here having this discussion.

By the way "the shaq thread was completely irrelevant, no wonder people moved on that question" LMFAO, FYI the thread is still getting responses to this day.............. By posters with common sense as well as poster who actually do have something positive to add to this board.

Here let me BUMP IT JUST FOR YOU so you can see.

[stunnar0b]

"shaq to boston" c'mon playa i dont think anybody answered that question, in fact they just gave you their two cents and whether or not we should retire his jersey.(which shouldve been the original question). When people quote it doesnt necessarily have to pertain to the thread question thus is the whole point

[kooner]

yes he is.........