In the case of the Warriors, there was plenty to perfect. The roster was low on talent and stocked with duplicate players, most prominently guards Ellis and Stephen Curry. Like Lacob and Myers, West was fond of hybrid players who could guard multiple positions. In 2011, he lobbied hard to draft Klay Thompson, whom he’d known since he was a boy (Klay’s father, Mychal, played under West with the Lakers). “We had our pro day and during Klay's workout Jerry pulled me out in the middle of the workout,” says Bill Duffy, Thompson’s agent. “He said, ‘That’s our guy.’”
Next came the March 2012 trade that sent Ellis to the Bucks and returned Andrew Bogut. Ellis was a fan favorite. His wife was close with Lacob’s fiancée, Nicole Curran. The team would catch hell for trading him. None of that mattered, argued West. You’re going to get killed but you need to make the move, West told Lacob. Let Bob be your voice in this. When Lacob was booed a week later by Warriors fans, while retiring Chris Mullin’s jersey, West consoled him on the phone afterward.
In the years that followed, West weighed in often. He advocated for hiring Steve Kerr after things went sour with Mark Jackson. In Kerr, West saw the type of big picture, tempered leader he knew the Warriors needed to make the next step. As he is fond of pointing out, when you don’t have talent, coaching can only do so much. Once you have talent, coaching is everything.
http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/11/jerry-west-nba-finals-golden-state-warriors?page=2&devicetype=default
^This is a frikken damn good article on Jerry West. A.Must.read.
