Jerry West seemingly believed that his son Ryan was relieved of his duties with the Los Angeles Lakers organization in the summer of 2019 as a result of the elder West’s clash with members of the team’s leadership.
The younger West saw his time with the Lakers come to an end after the Clippers landed Kawhi Leonard (and ultimately Paul George). The Clippers acquired those two stars with the help of the elder West, who worked for the organization for several years beginning in 2017.
“Seven months earlier, on July 9, 2019, the Clippers sent shockwaves through the NBA by landing Kawhi Leonard, the top free agent on the market who had just led Toronto to a championship,” ESPN’s Baxter Holmes wrote.
“Inside the Clippers, there was jubilation. Inside the Lakers, there was frustration. Both teams had competed for Leonard, who had expressed a desire to return to his Southern California roots, but he spurned the Lakers to join the organization they shared an arena with and one that, for decades, was mostly well-known for its pronounced losing.
“The day after Leonard joined the Clippers, the team traded for star swingman Paul George, instantly making them title contenders.
“Later that month, on July 27, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Jerry West’s son, Ryan, who had spent 10 years with the Lakers and last worked as the director of player personnel, was leaving the organization.
“Team sources made clear Ryan wasn’t leaving on his own accord. Two sources close to the matter said Ryan’s departure was tied to the concept of there being no room for growth within the franchise, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported.
“Jerry saw it differently.”
The elder West shared his perspective on why his son saw his tenure with the Lakers come to an end.
“They let him go because of me,” the elder West said one week after his son’s departure.
The younger West was reportedly “devastated” about the situation.
“He (the elder West) considered his son, who now works as a pro personnel scout for the Detroit Pistons, to be collateral damage in his clash with members of Lakers’ leadership,” Holmes wrote.
“The Lakers declined to comment for this story.
“(The elder) West said he apologized to Ryan, whom he described as ‘devastated.'”
A former longtime Lakers executive compared the situation to a soap opera.
“It’s like a soap opera,” the former Lakers executive told ESPN. “There is fallout, which is hurtful. Ryan, to me, it looks like he paid the price for all this pettiness.”
As mentioned, the elder West worked in the Clippers’ front office when the team acquired Leonard. Leonard was in the running for the best player in the NBA at the time, as he had just recently led the Toronto Raptors to their first title in franchise history in 2019.
Leonard also put together an individual playoff run for the ages that year, as he averaged 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks per game.
As Holmes suggested, the Clippers looked to be title contenders on paper after the team traded for George, but injuries frequently derailed Los Angeles’ hopes of winning a championship during the pair’s time together.
During the five seasons that Leonard and George were teammates, Leonard played in less than 60 games for the Clippers four times. The same goes for George, though he did suit up in 74 games for the team in his swan song with the franchise, the 2023-24 campaign. In Leonard’s case, he missed one entire season of those five. It was the 2021-22 campaign.
With two of the most talented players in the league on their roster, the Clippers never even reached an NBA Finals. In fact, they reached the Western Conference Finals just once, back in 2021, losing to the Phoenix Suns in six games sans Leonard after he tore his ACL during the playoff run.
The Leonard-George era might not have gone as planned, but regardless, if the younger West was let go by the Lakers even in part because of a move that his father’s team made, that would certainly not be a good look for the storied franchise, especially considering all that the elder West accomplished with the Purple and Gold during his playing and post-playing days.
