The Jerry West Anguish Series Part V
For earlier Parts in the Jerry West Anguish Series, click here
Jerry West did not panic and make wholesale changes, as many thought necessary, in the wake of the Lakers' shocking five-game elimination by the Houston Rockets in the 1986 Western Conference Finals. West pointed out the Lakers had won 62 games and the NBA title the year before. He felt that fine-tuning, not major reconstruction, was needed.
A trade West made and one he didn't both proved brilliant, instrumental to the Lakers' title drive. First, he talked owner Jerry Buss out of a deal that would have sent forward James Worthy to Dallas for Mark Aguirre and Roy Tarpley last summer.
At the time, Worthy was being ripped for being "one-dimensional." All he could do was get out on the break and jam, which wouldn't do against the twin towerism popularized around the league by the Rockets. Though 7-2, Abdul-Jabbar had never been a great rebounder, and, approaching 40, he needed help on the boards Worthy couldn't provide and the 6-11 Tarpley could.
West thought long and hard before lobbying against the deal. Ultimately, he chose to stay with Worthy and seek help for Abdul-Jabbar elsewhere. Worthy, of course, blossomed into an All-Star, and West did, indeed, find help for Abdul-Jabbar.
He found it in San Antonio, trading Petur Gudmundsson, Frank Brickowski and two draft picks for 6-10 center/forward Mychal Thompson. Between Abdul-Jabbar and Thompson, the Lakers got 47 points and 15 rebounds out of the center position in Sunday's clincher. Thompson also contributed significantly to the vital fourth-game victory in Boston, won by Magic's Slyhook.
Bottom line: without Thompson, the Lakers would not have beaten the Celtics. Thompson scored 67 points and grabbed 31 rebounds in 171 minutes in the series. All seven Celtic reserves scored only 97 points and managed 51 rebounds.
But even after the Lakers manhandled the Celtics in the first two games, Laker General Manager Jerry West was downplaying the victories. Talk of a Laker sweep made West cringe. He was livid with the press for writing off the Celtics after the first game.
It's one damn game!" West said in disgust. "It's hard to imagine after one game you can tell anything. I honestly think the newspapers are doing us and the Celtics a terrible disservice. (Boston) is a tremendous ballclub. I honestly think people who write and cover sports should know better. Are they trying to inflame the Celtics by making fun of them?"
West not travel to Boston for Games 3, 4 and 5 because he is sure that would jinx the Lakers. He went with the team to Philadelphia for the first two games in the 1983 finals; the Lakers lost both, and West vowed never again to travel in the playoffs.
As a player, West was 0-for-life in six championship showdowns against the Celtics. But as GM, he has now beaten them two straight. The Laker general manager said he never had any doubt that his team was going to win. "We had the type of team that could beat the Celtics," West said. "I just knew we were going to win."
He knew? And there was never any doubt?
"No," West said. "It was our year, from start to finish. Every year the team that wins it has everything going for it. And we had a perfect year. The Celtics did not have a perfect year like they did last year.
"We came out focused this year, came out committed to winning. I'm so happy right now, so happy that we won't have to read about Red Auerbach and the officiating and those damn balloons."
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