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It’s hard to imagine now, but there was once a time where the Los Angeles Lakers struggled to win championships. After moving to LA from Minneapolis in 1960, the Lakers fell in each of their first seven trips to the NBA Finals. It wasn’t until 1971-72—the fourth season with Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain leading the team—that the purple and gold finally got over the hump, delivering the first Larry O’Brien trophy to a city that now has 12 of them.
More than 50 years later, that ‘72 squad is back in the spotlight thanks to Goliath, the Showtime docuseries about Chamberlain’s life, but also because Sotheby’s is auctioning off Chamberlain’s uniform from the clinching game of the ‘72 Finals. The historic jersey is expected to fetch at least $4 million—more than guys like Chamberlain and West, who quite literally changed the way the game is played, ever earned annually as active players.
After retiring in 1974, West later became the Lakers’ head coach, and then enjoyed a long run of success as the team’s general manager. From there he became GM of the Memphis Grizzlies, but West added some more trophies to the case when he joined the Golden State Warriors as a consultant, just a few years before their own dynasty took off. Today, at 85 years old, he’s still working in the NBA, serving as an executive board member and consultant for the Los Angeles Clippers. In a long, winding conversation, West touched on his relationship with Wilt the Stilt, the modern game, and having no clue where any of his game-worn gear is now.
First of all, I’m not privy to that kind of information. But I think there’s probably serious collectors out there that have [interest in] certain players with iconic backgrounds. He certainly was one of them. You know, nothing shocks me in the world today. The other day I saw a car that went for $62 million! For people who are serious collectors, I don’t think price matters. I don’t know a whole lot about collectors, but when I hear a number like that, it certainly is eye-opening. It’s a different world today. Obviously there’s so much new wealth created by this Generation X.
No, I’m too simple. From that era, there’s not that much stuff around, there’s really not. They used to throw away significant game-worn jerseys and shoes back then. I have a pair of shoes that were bronzed the night I scored my 25,000th point. The team gave them to me, and I looked at them and said, “Well, at least it’s going to be preserved, but the shoes would be a heck of a lot more valuable than the bronze.”
I would have no idea. If you came to my house, you wouldn’t even know that I participated in sports. But in West Virginia there’s a restaurant called Prime 44 West. There’s a bunch of interesting stuff there. They’ve got my Olympic gold medal and uniform, and a picture of the team—which was an amateur team, not a professional team—and a lot of game-worn stuff there. I played in 14 All-Star Games and I think they have every [uniform] at the restaurant.
Who would have ever thought? I guess some players have probably kept things that are significant to them. But every year you played in a different uniform and there was no thought of maintaining them. Frankly, they’re probably in some dump heap in Los Angeles.
I’m not sure, but there’s kind of an interesting story behind it. Before the season started, the late Bill Sharman—who was our coach—told me he wanted me to lead the league in assists. I said, “If that’s what you want, I’ll try.” And I did! Of course, both Wilt and I had the ability to score, but not like a few years before. He had a very serious knee operation, and I had an operation too. It just wasn’t easy to come back from injuries at that time, particularly when it comes to tearing a ligament or tendon. Both of us had that.
I think we were 5-4, a game or two over .500 [to start the season], and Elgin Baylor announced his retirement. Oh my gosh, he and I were so close. We shared a lot of winning, but not winning what we really wanted to win, which was a championship. I had a tremendous kinship with him. I don’t know if anyone really understands the closeness between players, especially during that era. It was a shock for me to walk in the locker room and not see him that night. But, that was the beginning of a 33-game winning streak.
Looking at that year, it was a miracle that we won 33 straight games. Before the season—you know you’re not going to go undefeated, that’s not going to happen when you play 82 games—but to think we went three months without losing a game was, like, the craziest thing ever. The game we lost was to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson’s Milwaukee team. Give them credit, they played really well. We did not shoot the ball very well. But you go into the locker room after, and you’d think the season was over! Guys were unbelievably disappointed that we lost. To think that you’re a part of that, it’s pretty significant for me as a player and someone who’s seen a lot when it comes to professional basketball. That record, can anyone break it? I don’t know. But it would take a lot of good fortune.
Not really. The funny thing was, you know, I was up there for four or five years as a consultant, and watched that team incrementally get better every year. If you look at how many points we won by [during the Lakers’ streak], it was dominant. There were not that many close games. Early on we did, but as we started rolling, the games weren’t even close. That allowed for a comfort zone as a player. What do they say? Records are made to be broken? Well, this is one that is going to be really difficult to break.
The advent of the three-point line changed the trajectory of basketball. By doing that, you have players that are certainly much more specialized. Players’ ability to handle the ball and be creative with the ball is at an all-time high. A few of them are geniuses with the basketball. It’ll only get better. Kids learn from watching certain players, so every era will be a little bit different. But if you look at today, it’s kind of a non-positional league. Everyone wants a center that can go out and shoot 15-footers, some of them even shoot three-pointers beautifully. The winner of the three-point contest was Karl-Anthony Towns! What is he, 6’11”? He can really shoot the ball from out there.
But the game has changed because of the rules. Along with the analytical people—who are a part of all sports today—you’ll see guys who are four-on-one with an open layup and they’ll pull up for a three-point shot. I’m a little bit old fashioned—I’d rather take the layup and ensure myself the two points.
Unless there’s some other significant rule change, I think the scores are going to ramp up even more than they are today. You’ll have teams now taking 48 or 50 three-pointers a night! I just think you’re going to see a lot more specialists. Kids now, at an early age, you’ll see them doing incredible things handling the ball, shooting threes, and going by people on the dribble. It’s pretty fascinating.
When somebody was that dominant, the first thing that people say is that he didn’t play against anybody. That wasn’t the case. It was a very physical game, much more physical than it is today. You had no three-point line, so defenses were completely crowded in the lane and there wasn’t a lot of movement. The league has made it easier to score. Looking back at who he was as a player, I feel like he could have scored more in this day and age.
But he really was one of the more sensitive people that I’ve ever been around. I’m guessing that he felt like he didn’t get his just due as a player. At times, people could be very critical, because he was so good that they expected the world from him. Some of the things he did—in track and field and basketball—are astonishing. High jumping seven feet. Throwing the shot put 60 feet. Running the 440-yard dash in almost record timing. It was pretty significant to watch him do the things he was capable of doing. He tore his patellar tendon and did something remarkable. That’s usually an injury that takes a long time to heal. He started playing again in four and a half months. All he did [to rehab] was play volleyball down at the beach in the sand. I didn’t expect him back that year! Even today they don’t come back from injuries that quickly.
During the last two years [with the Lakers] we spent a lot of time together after games talking about stuff. He was smart. He knew how to use his ability to leverage himself. He had a huge advantage in that area because he knew he could always go back and play with the Globetrotters. The NBA could be a tremendous burden on him because of his size and ability. They expected him to score 100 points every night. I got to know him really well and we talked about things other than basketball. He was well-versed on everything. That made for an interesting time. My background was completely different than his.
He also sponsored women’s track and field events and women’s volleyball. He took such a great interest in that after using it as a way to rehab. Los Angeles was also a better place to live for him. There’s so many celebrities around. It’s warmer, there’s a lot of different things you can do in this city. I think he felt a lot more comfortable here, even though he loved New York. It was ironic that during his career with Philadelphia, he was living in New York! He’d commute to games! A lot of people don’t know that. He had an incredible career, but he had an unbelievable life. When I found out he passed away, it was a big shock. It felt like he was Superman.
I probably wouldn’t have liked it, to be honest with you. Everyone wants to play, okay? With all the medical advances that have been made, these teams today practice with some sort of device on their bodies that tell them when they’re fatigued and it’ll recommend rest. I don’t think that’s what works best for an athlete.
We really only had 10 players to start with [in ‘71-’72] and then it escalated up. A lot of teams [today] have 13 players, and a G-League team that will allow rookies to play more. For both the really successful teams and the teams that are struggling to win games, there’s more likelihood that their younger players are going to get an opportunity to play. But I hated to miss games. I had a chronic hamstring pull that caused me to miss games in the prime of my career that I probably wouldn’t have missed today because of all the advancements. I go to our practices here with the Clippers and see all these different specialists in the locker room. There’s different weight lifting that they do, strength and conditioning, I kind of marvel at it. It’s become an absolute science and it’s being improved upon every year.
When I heard it, I was in West Virginia, visiting my area of the world. Was I shocked? Yeah, sort of! With a player of that caliber, you almost think that they’re never going to get traded. I believe in loyalty and always have. Sometimes you see loyalty get thrown out the window. But teams do it! They can trade you any time they want! You read about supposed trades going on all the time, people create rumors and fly to the moon with it. I just think that today—because a player really can’t control their destiny unless they become an unrestricted free agent—the enormous amount of money out there means the situation has completely changed.
Players today have a lot of power, and agents use that power to get the players where they really want to play. We made very little, but Wilt was highly paid, even then. It’s a completely different environment. He was the one player who had the power to say no. Why? He always had a fallback. He could go play with the Globetrotters and make a lot of money. That dynamic has changed enormously.
I didn’t go out much at all. I was always pretty shy and never felt the need to go out. Later in my career, when I couldn’t sleep, I had a place down at the marina where I’d go down and have a little bite to eat. But Wilt took me over to Smalls Paradise in Harlem, a jazz club, predominantly minority. He wanted me to go, so I went. I walked in there and I was the only white face. I never felt so welcomed in my life. I think it was because of his presence and how people revered him. He watched over me that night. It was fun! I will never forget that night. One of the fondest memories I have of him is him making sure I was okay, but more importantly, he wanted me to be a part of his environment.
That was something I felt very strongly about. This guy is one of those extremely gifted players on both ends of the court. He’s a perfect fit for [Steph] Curry and they flourish together. I don’t know, there’s just something you feel about certain players. You see guys that can score the ball, but his total game is really good, and he’s improved his ball handling and ability to go by people. At one time he was kind of just a jump shooter. Not anymore! He became a total player. He’s also one of those guys that just loves to play. Everyone calls them ballers nowadays, he’s a baller! I don’t think there’s a finer backcourt that you’ll ever see. They’re amazing.
They didn’t have a logo! If that’s me, then so be it. I try my best to be an ambassador for the league, but I try not to even talk about it to be honest with you. I’ve never been notified of that [logo specifically being me], but it’s part of my heritage and the history of my life. I’m very flattered.