The Lakers Will Honor Jerry West This Season. Plus, Zach Guthrie Hired as South Bay Lakers Coach!

hey everyone welcome to locked on Lakers for Thursday Brian kimki Andy ketki the Lakers will indeed honor Jerry West this season does that make you feel better about how they handled his passing that's [Music] next you are locked on Lakers your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thanks to everybody for making on Lakers your first listen of every day Monday through Friday no matter how or where you get your podcast this one's always free and it's never going to be behind the pay wall and locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 25,000 subscribers Andy all of whom have taken a look at the uh the upcoming schedule and now know the Lakers will in fact honor Jerry West the news coming out earlier this week um with a commemorative patch on their jerseys and uh a giveaway on Jerry West night on October 22nd get to that in a second do want to let everybody know that today's episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase so um when Jerry West uh died earlier this year um obviously uh great many honoraries around the league and this and that whatever but the Lakers received a lot of flack Andy for what What was seen by a lot of fans as a pretty tepid um maybe even dismissive and kind of disrespectful um response I wouldn't say I would not say that it was disrespectful I think that's a little too far what I would say though is that it felt rote and cold um this is the exact uh statement from the organization when Jerry West died quote Jerry West is forever a basketball I he bought he brought Laker fans their first championship in Los Angeles in 1972 and was intrical to another six titles during his time with us our thoughts are with the West family and the many NBA fans who honor his legacy Jerry West will always be a Lakers Legend and if you compare it it was slow coming out too it was it was slow coming out which you know I don't think you necessarily have to be the first of whether you're talking about franchises or person or whoever to release a statement but I would say that the longer your statement takes the more there's going to be expected from it and then you compare that to example for the statement from Stephen from Steve Balmer on behalf of the Clippers quote this is a hard day I'm honored to call Jerry Confidant adviser and a friend Connie my wife called him basketball dad he was absolutely my basketball Sage wise loyal and so much fun if you were in his presence you felt his competitiveness in his drive he cared about everything and everyone from the first day I met Jerry seven years ago he inspired me with his intellect honesty and enthusiasm he never stopped I spent a lot of time with him some of the best days of my life he he always lent an ear he always had an equip he always left me laughing I will miss him um even the organiz the statement from the Grizzlies organization the Grizzlies organization is saddened by the news of Jerry West passing and send our deepest condolences to his wife Karen his family and his friends across the NBA W profound impact on the NBA and the sport of basketball as a whole cannot be overstated we are particularly appreciative of his efforts in Memphis where he was a meaningful part of the community and served from 2002 to 2007 as president of basketball operations and like when you compare statements like these or the one from Joe lob from the Warriors um say nothing statements say nothing compared to statements like from Pat Riley Oscar Robertson West Virginia politicians like down the line even even from the Dodgers like the Lakers statement to me doesn't so much feel disrespectful as it almost feels like a Wikipedia entry like it just feels impersonal right I I would say that that impersonal you know you kind of phoned it in which I think a lot of people interpret as disrespect I guess that is one way of looking at it um what I do think it I it's a weird thing to say I would like to think it reflects the strained last couple decades between the Lakers and West otherwise it's just truly inexplicable and inexcusable um but I'm sure our listeners and viewers know Jerry West left the organization very early into Phil Jackson's initial tenure with Team there was the infamous incident where Phil kicked Jerry West out of the locker room while he was addressing players and very much created a power dynamic between him and Jerry West which was made obviously more complicated because of Phil Jackson's relationship with jeie bus and Dr bus ultimately sided with Phil Jackson which led to Jerry West exiting the organization um there was the there was the weird situation with Brian West his son for a while working with the team and Jerry West told nba.com in an interview that he thought Ryan was eventually let go because of is poor relationship with the franchise in that history Jerry West also told Dan Patrick in 2017 that in that summer you know he would have been interested in coming back to the organization and this is right around when jeie hired magic and Rob pinka so one has to imagine that's a commentary on he they got hired and not me um and he had said on at least one occasion that he felt like the relationship between him and the organization and and really I think him and the bus family was not fixable he didn't he did not see it as something that could be salvaged and I I think the context here is important like look I probably in this the next segment I get into I think why this is why this conversation is kind of important you know for for you know the the the modern Lakers and and how they operate but you know I will say this the Lakers are inherently at a disadvantage here because a personal argument between Jerry West and the Lakers at a time when the Lakers really do seem to be struggling in certain ways and um satisfaction with management even in Good Times satisfaction with management doesn't really feel that high um Fair unfair you know Genie's tenure you know Genie is being you know is is the measuring stick for jeie bus is Jerry bus and Jerry bus wouldn't be able to meet the Jerry bus standard were he the owner of the team right now so I mean it's like in that sense I feel for Genie and I will consistently defend her against people who believe that she does not have the the best interests of the franchise at heart I think she wants this team to be good she wants the team to win I think she wants Lakers fans to see championships and all that stuff I do not think she necessarily knows how to do that sometimes I think she does not have the best interest of the organization at heart because she does not know how to identify the best interests but that's but I don't see those things as the same so um you know good she has the right intentions she may not have the right skill set whatever it is um and so like at A Moment Like This things are going to be tilted in favor of Jerry West and it's one of these things where I don't I don't want to the Dynamics here are deep and they are uh rich and Jerry West could be a very very salty and stubborn man um who you know held grudges and you know he he was a remarkable very unique combination of incredibly accessible for someone of his stature whenever you did talk to him and you and I were very fortunate to have a few conversations with Jerry West he was always very open very friendly yeah but by his own admission carried a lot of demons um he did not let go of things easily and he had a a famously difficult time experiencing happiness I think in a lot of ways accepting the concept of Happiness like he he really he never satisfied with anything again these These are these are not even our observations or reputation go read his autobiography and you should anyway because it's an incredible read let's let's stick on this because you know obviously a few more things and a little fan reaction to um you know this conversation as well from the YouTube page we'll do all that next lock on Lakers is brought to you by eBay Motors Pass and drive and patience it's what brings home the winning trophy it's also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance from supercharges roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power style or even all the above eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that wind keep your ride or die alive at eBay motors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers thanks again for making lock on Lakers first listen of the day make locked on NBA perhaps your second or different locked on podcast if you prefer but locked on NBA is a great way to keep up with what is going on in the NBA throughout the offseason there really is no offseason in the in the NBA yet local experts like uh people like us part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day um so like this to I thought was an example of the kind of story so like if and you mentioned at the beginning of the of the 7 they're gonna honor him I think we mentioned it honor him with a jersey stripe um on you know that will be worn on the jerseys all year long and they will also have a night honoring him again October 22nd I believe every fan in attendance will get kind of a you know replica West Jersey um that be a highlight Montage for sure stuff like that yeah it's gonna be a whole Jerry West thing and you know I I saw a comment on the the page from uh WM uh cuchia butchering that but you leave a lot of comments so we thank you 1556 where he said Jerry West deserves more than a stripe it seems like a PR move by the Lakers and I mean they do have a statue of the man outside the stadium you know his number is retired I mean all these other things there are a lot of ways in which the Lakers have honored Jerry West and I think you know I think they botched this when he when Jerry West died it was late may you know the Lakers were too slow getting a statement out they were too it was not personal feeling it was cold but it was also something that made me go man these people were not getting along and that's not entirely the fault of Jerry like when you have two parties that have a long and personal relationship that has gone sour it is usually unfair to ascribe all the blame to one side um do I think the Lakers should have you know had something ready to go you know uh uh photographs and all these things yeah I mean the man was believe 86 years old and you know they they should have absolutely had something ready to go and or come together with a personal statement it's like the way newspapers and media Outlets with famous significant people as they get older they work on the obituaries and the tributes ahead of time not even to you know to be first necessarily but just to be right so you have so you don't have to put you know Carol Bernett is 90 something years old and is a legend of entertainment and when she passes which will be a sad day for everyone like you're going to want to have a comprehensive story and things written about Carol Bernett so that you don't have to then go do the reporting because these things take time the Laker should have had or at the very least come up with a statement that felt much more personal than the one that was released I I believe attributed to Genie um it was a mistake it was an absolutely unforced there it made a lot of people angry um at a time when people were kind of angry at the team you know it was late may they weren't playing basketball and you know they looked disorganized and and all of these other things right in the middle of you know was not quite at the coaching you know they haven't figured out the coaching search yet but you know Darin was gone I believe at that point um and so just they screwed it up you know be the bigger person you know and all that stuff for just from a PR move uh but what just what I find fascinating about this is just when people talk about the Lakers as a family organization and a family run organization and a mom and pop shop and two small whatever this is the kind of thing that happens in a family business you know and it's it's sad to me more than it is indicative of deep failures to you know for the Lakers you know to honor their players or honor their history and stuff like that because that is historically something like that the Lakers do incredibly well that's actually what I was going to say is with all of at times the dysfunction that we either see or hear about within the organization or mistakes that get made or different ways where we've we have talked about before that we don't think this organization is as well-run as they should be that they don't always have the resources whether talking about in Manpower or the economic resources that are necessary to achieve at the level that fans expect in the standard that they claim to hold for themselves the one thing you always count on them to do well is these type of historical moments and celebrations and were I to guess and this is purely a guess I don't I don't know um and obviously the you know the relationship as I said in the show between the Lakers and Jerry West having gotten so bad is really a question of West and the bus family you know neither one of us knows jeie extremely well but we've talked with her before you know we have a pretty good idea of who she is I don't think that the initial statement was and what it lacked was an issue of Genie being petty where I had to guess I could see it it though being a question of them worried about how it looks if they lay it on too thick or if you know people talk about oh you're you're saying these things about Jerry West now but now where were you when he was alive exactly I would have still aired on the side of laying it on too thick because you can never go too far in celebrating somebody like Jerry West who no matter how the relationship between him and the organization ended that organization is fundamentally different for the worse like for the far worse without Jerry West having been part of it so therefore you should a on the side of people ridiculing you for being you know I don't want to say disingenuous in the praise because nothing would be untrue but like oh you can say this now but you couldn't fix what needed to do then as opposed to that's all you're going to say yeah and it's it's funny like I I I'm glad you brought that up because like there is a bit of a damned if you do damned if you don't situation there because like I said they the Lakers and it was always seem as like the Lakers responsibility to fix the relationship and I don't know enough about the west side of it um you know he has claimed that Dr bus uh stopped giving uh he and his family the season tickets that have been promised for life like right and these a lot but a lot of these are years old Grievances and more recent years I don't know how how much effort was really made on either side to sort of repair this Rift and I my understanding from you know anecdotally and talking to people is that Jerry West was highly motivated to beat the Lakers you know you know was with the Clippers uh and all that kind I mean is not an accident that he took a job I mean they are local and he was an older gentleman whatever but you know he took a job with the Clippers I mean that two of his three jobs after the Lakers were in the Clippers div I mean the Lakers division yeah like that's probably not an accident the Warriors as well I mean like these were things that were designed in part to stick it to the Lakers and I get it like these are competitive people and all that stuff and I again it's just old family Grievances and that's essentially again this is what this a lot of ways feels like to me like you know you talk about a a a you know season tickets that were not followed through on by Dr bus but I mean when did Dr bus die it was 2012 okay so you we're going back at least you know 12 years and then beyond you know I don't even know I don't even know if that's allowable with tampering rules or I mean I'm being being serious like how complicated this of course not and you know we're just you you you start dealing with a lot of people with big Egos and you know whose histories go back a long way and you know Phil Jackson was a monster um presence in the organization who was dating the owner or the owner's daughter at the time and you know and that has an influence on all of these like it is a it's more than anything like this type of thing reminds me of just the the sort of the unique nature of the Lakers as a longtime family business where generally speaking everybody's from inside the family for better or often For Worse last thing I would say this on on this though is I would still in light of everything we've said put down pretty sizable bet that the KN will be really fantastic it'll be really well orchestrated and I hope I hope members of Jerry West's family are able or willing to attend I I I I hope all these things you certainly Lakers fans will honor the right way and it is a it is a shame it's 100% a shame that this couldn't be worked out while Jerry West was alive like I'm not not denying those things and I'm not trying to you know stick up for the organization it's just one of the it it's it's just kind of a bummer uh but they again it is a it'll be it'll be a good honorary it is good that they came around and whether they did it because they felt like they had to or because they should or because they were always planning to I have no idea but um the honorary is appropriate um and it's great that they will be wearing this stripe which actually if you've seen the pictures kind of looks pretty cool I've not I've SE not I've seen Jersey patches I haven't seen something like this yeah they do this stuff very well maybe it's been done before I don't know a little more on the uh the the Player Development thing as the Lakers keep filling out their Player Development staff uh a new coach for the South Bay Lakers talk about it next lock on Lakers is brought to you by game time my daughter is 13 and we've bonded a lot over the years through music right now it's Frank Ocean she's obsessed with Frank Ocean Frank Ocean has not put out an album in about a years uh eight years I should say although there are rumors she's heard that he's back in the studio which would mean a tour and I promised her if Frank Ocean does tour I'm going to get us tickets even though I know tough promise to hold up but not worried because game time they make it easy you can actually look forward to finding tickets they've got the new feature like game time picks which filters out all the confusing flowery verbage and shows you only incredible deals on seats it saves you time they offer panoramic views before you buy so you know exactly what everything everything around you where the stage is going to be how it's all going to look and feel take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account use the code locked on NBA for 20 bucks off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem the code L CED o n NBA for 20 bucks off Player Development is a thing that the that has been uh harped on to say the least this off season by the Lakers talking about their coaching staffs talking about all these other things uh how they're you know how they want to develop Brony all whatever part of the infrastructure there is the South Bay Lakers the Lakers fired their coach um earlier in the offseason but they now have a new guy who uh will be on the sidelines this year they fired danne Johnson they hired Zack Guthry your thoughts I mean I can tell you some background on him bre yeah I mean he was last with the Wizards uh from 2021 to recently been an assistant with the Jazz uh been an assistant with uh the Mavericks worked with Rick Carlile he's worked with Quinn Snyder he had been with the Magics part of advanced scouting been with the Spurs and assistant video coordinator I don't really know anything in terms of what he did the roles that he played most recently with The Wiz Wizards are dating backwards I just think it's significant because Zack Guthrie now represents the last piece of the development puzzle that they've talked about a lot and that they're going to be stressing the idea that Player Development is something that they're going to be putting more of an emphasis on um as we've discussed before that isn't just about the g-league or rookies or secondy Year guys you know Max I mean Max Christie obviously but Austin Reeves Jared Vanderbilt ruy hachimura they are still young enough players that I think they fall under Player Development in a kind of traditional way but obviously the G league is a big part of it that's you know the pool of young players that they can hopefully develop have another success story like an Alex Caruso um and in the meantime that's also a good you know cost controlled way to hopefully shape young talent and I imagine you know because they've actually talked more about Player Development than they have in quite some time like I plan to watch a little bit more of the G League this year if we no other reason than to be able to I guess credibly answer questions about how bronny looks but also too like I'm curious how much of what we see from the South Bay Lakers looks at all like what JJ reck is running with the big club and just looking for signs of synergy like I'm going to be more curious about it this year than I've been in previous Seasons so again Zack Guthrie really is that last piece of it uh he was on a the basketball podcast hosted by Chris Oliver and he did talk a little bit about Player Development he said we want to have these Boutique one-on-one sessions where everything's about the player and his development his growth but you have to understand how that transfers the team to the Five On Five Element we take so much of this out of context and we get so lost in the individual skill when it's about how does it transfer to the team and how can we get uh as much team growth as possible that's what I mean by the holistic approach um and you know it's I I don't know why I don't know why danne Johnson was fired other than you know he was part of an older you know the previous coaching setup and it's not unusual throughout the entire thing they brought a new guy with a new program and he's going to have new people from the beginning to the end but it will be I am interested to learn as the season goes on how um kind of what they what Player Development looks like in practice when they actually get to doing it you know you hear you see that quote from Zack Guth that I just read but it's also you know it's interesting too to hear him talk about the context and one of the things that is tricky about how you look at players that are playing in the g-league and which guys should you go sign and there's this guy averaging 26 points a game in the g- league why isn't anybody picking him up is because anybody who's playing there isn't going to be scoring 26 points a game once they are called up to the NBA that's just not going to be their role it's highly unlikely almost almost impossible so that type of thing I don't see as something like so you got to find you know when you take a player that you look at as a developmental player what are you are you going to have them doing things at the minor league level so to speak that as closely as possible reflect what you think they're going to be doing at the NBA level so obviously Brony for example you know they're going to want him to work on everything and get better because he's so young it's too early to set in stone what you think he's going to be as as a as an NBA Pro but it's not too early to set it in like clay like there you know he is probably not going to be a primary scorer if he's able to carve out an NBA career he is certainly going to be somebody who leans on his defense and is used in in in you know specific ways or trying to develop as much versatility despite being relatively short um like that kind of thing he probably is somebody who who could use two or three really definitive skill sets offensively that you can lean on whether that's an outside shot from certain parts of the of the floor or passing off of screens the screen roll like little things like that so when you talk about watching a guy like bronny or Maxwell Lewis or anybody else it's it's like are they synthesizing what they're doing at the g-league level with what it might look like they're doing at the pro level and that's different or the NBA level that's different for everybody you know jayen Hood chafino he's gonna have the ball in his hands a lot more there and doing stuff so he probably will take more shots and do some stuff you don't want him to give those up um like it looks different for everyone well but also too I mean JHS was the last guy I was going to touch on before we briefly uh update people about cheddy gate um jayen Hood chaffino if there are all hands on deck this season and relatively available if nothing else from point guard you know shooting guard the general backc court unless he is way further along to open camp like it's just taking a like an Andrew bames leap remember that 2008 season uh that nobody even people close to the organization saw it coming that season JHS is going to be with the South Bay team a lot and and if you want ultimately that pick to pay dividends the season that he has this year with South Bay is really important it sure is it is a very very important part of his development as a player and also just justifying the Lakers organization's faith in him yeah completely um and he he did he was pretty productive uh in the g- League last year so you know good signs that you know I'm not saying he's ever I wouldn't rather have Brandon pky um but that does not mean that JHS can't become a good player uh Andy apparently there is a little bit of controversy around whether or not chedy Oshman was actually offered a contract by the Lakers to appear at training camp yeah Mark Stein his great substack that everybody should be subscribing to uh put out a recent piece quote it had been reported in Europe that turkey Swingman chedy Osman turned down a training camp invite from the Lakers before signing with Greek team whose name I cannot pronounce but sources close to the situation told the Stein line that no such offer was extended by La despite LeBron james' well-known fondness for Osman dating back to their days as Cavaliers teammates which and all honesty probably both of us should have picked up on this in the moment the likelihood of Osman the likelihood of Osman we noted this saying yes uh was very low because there's no real spot for him to play much less even make the team so why it's not even just why would Osman put himself in the position to get cut why would the Lakers put themselves in a position to get turned down un unless unless this was something that was being done as a favor to osman's agent or say Ron wanted them to do this as a favor to a former teammate just like the idea of you're building up Buzz yeah I mean I guess I mean you're not stuff happens that's what I'm saying sure right but I just I don't see any there's I mean I could I didn't have a I was not surprised that like assuming he was offer de said no I'm gonna go here but like I don't see very much downside to we got turned down by cheddy Osman just because I don't think cheddy Osman is you know be all the things you're saying it's like you we think it could be helpful but that's I understand I understand the point you're I disagree the Lakers have they're an organization with rabbit ears they know that fans keep track and media keep track of everybody that turns them down even somebody like tus Jones or Gary Trent Jr who to the best of my knowledge never even turned them back just because again the the reasons as you say that he would go play somewhere else are so blindingly obvious now that you when you think about it more it makes as little sense that the Lakers would offer this to Osman as it would be for Osman to actually take the offer yeah and it just you know it's a reminder Lakers are stuck um which becomes a bigger problem uh if this whole uh Jared Vanderbilt injury lingers into the regular season as we've been discussing over the course of the week locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 25,000 subscribers make locked on NBA or another locked on podcast your next listen of the day uh part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day we'll see you tomorrow