Rumors

Jorge Sierra: Best scoring average on Christmas games (minimum: five games) Joel Embiid: 30.40 ppg Oscar Robertson 31.42 ppg Wilt Chamberlain: 31.67 ppg Jerry West: 32.17 ppg NIKOLA JOKIC: 32.50 ppg Jokic wasn't even Top 10 before this year

bsky.app

Jerry West texted Johnny Wilkes hours before the Clippers' July 2019 meeting with Kawhi Leonard to express gratitude. The messages provide insight into the informal negotiations that preceded Leonard's decision. "Just wanted to thank you for your help," West wrote, according to messages viewed by The Washington Post. Wilkes responded with advice for the pitch meeting: "Please tell everyone to pitch life after basketball to Kawhi. That's what he really wants to hear." West criticized the Lakers' pitch to Leonard in messages with Wilkes and suggested Leonard would play second fiddle to LeBron James in Los Angeles. "If he would go to the Lakers, he would be LeBron's caddy," West wrote. "F--- the Lakers," Wilkes responded. "This is between you and Toronto."

RealGM

"When can we expect a decision," West asked. "Don't want to be a pest and frankly don't want to bother Dennis anymore, if you hear anything please let me know. Thank you for all your help." West relayed updates to owner Steve Ballmer throughout the process. Two days after that exchange, Leonard signed a three-year, $103.14 million contract with the Clippers. The allegations sparked an NBA investigation that concluded the Clippers did not violate league tampering rules. Wilkes said in his deposition he informed Robertson of his payment proposal and offered him a cut.

RealGM

And Ford was having the time of his life, talking on the reg with stars such as Michael Jordan, movers and shakers like Jerry West and Larry Bird. “Bird yelled at me once, and I liked it,” he says. “I felt like a kid.” At various junctures, a couple of teams — Detroit and Portland — asked Ford if he would be interested in joining their front offices. Nothing substantive came from those inquiries. As more time passed, though, the happy child within grew restless with studying and writing about basketball, deciding to leave ESPN to respond to the adult pull of his original call.

Salt Lake Tribune

Doncic is on a tear, and it looks like all his hard work earlier in the offseason has been paying off in a huge way. In fact, 29 points, which is not a bad number whatsoever, is a huge step down from the level he was scoring at to begin the season. Still, Doncic now has 165 total points on the season, which is the most any Lakers player has scored through their first four games of the season, surpassing Kobe Bryant (146) and Jerry West (154) in the process, as per NBA.com/Stats on X (formerly Twitter).

Clutch Points

Real Sports: Most points in the first 5 games of a season in Lakers history: 175 — Jerry West (1969) 174 — Kobe Bryant (2005) 172 — Elgin Baylor (1966) 171 — Austin Reaves (2025)

x.com

After Luka Doncic scored 49 points in the Lakers' 128-110 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday -- shattering Jerry West's 56-year franchise record of 81 points scored through the first two games of a season -- his teammate Austin Reaves was asked a question. Could Doncic, who has scored 92 points this season, average 40? "Yes," Reaves told ESPN. Could Doncic average 40 and would it help the team win? "Yes," Reaves continued. "He's so good, it's weird."

ESPN

The first No. 24 jersey worn by Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers recently sold for $889,000, including buyer's premium, at Sotheby's. A jersey used by Jerry West from 1964 to 1967 also sold for $533,400 on the same night. Bryant wore the jersey while posting 23 points in a 118-112 victory against the Seattle Supersonics on Nov. 3, 2006. He would score 50 points or more in a game on 10 occasions in that 2006-07 season en route to his second straight -- and final -- league scoring title.

ESPN

Q. I want you to tell us your top five all-time Lakers. Lakers, not players, but Lakers. Magic Johnson: You got to start with Cap [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]. You got to Kobe Bryant. That's easy. Them two are easy. Byron Scott: I think the first three are easy. Them two and you. You got to put yourself on. Magic Johnson: I don't really talk about myself… Byron Scott: That three is pretty damn easy, you got two more Buck. Magic Johnson: And it's now because he's here. He'll probably fit in there with, LeBron James, and then probably Shaquille O’Neal, but you got so many: Jerry West, you got Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, I mean you got so many dudes that it's hard to say these five. You almost had to say 15 or 20. No other franchise… Boston probably be right there with us, but not too many franchises can say they got like this many dudes who were All-Time greats. Jamaal Wilkes! The man was just… So many be it's so many guys that's what make us special. But I would say this: Kobe, one of my favorites. Cap, one of my favorites because nobody in this league ever has dominated like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And nobody's dominated this city. Remember this. No, this dude got more championships…. Nobody is in college did what Kareem did. Three in a row. Greatest college player in history by far. It's no second. Three straight national championship and three straight MVPs of the of the of the finals as well. The greatest to ever change basketball forever. Nobody's done what Kareem was able to do for the game, college, and the NBA. What that what he's been able to do, it's been amazing.

YouTube

Marc J. Spears: The Lakers always have a star. I've never seen any team sports do this other than Real Madrid. Like you got Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, Magic and Kareem’s Showtime Lakers and Shaq and Kobe and then LeBron comes and then you got the guy after LeBron? I mean that's incredible. Iman Shumpert: I mean it's nice city to sell at the same time. Malika Andrews: What do all of those players have in common? All of them brought championships to Los Angeles.

YouTube

The Warriors superstar admitted reaching the top 10 is something he has his eye on -- and something not far out of reach. "I wouldn't say I don't care. I do the math every once in a while," Curry told Complex's Speedy Mormon in a recent interview. "Every time you catch somebody and they do the thing in the arenas like, 'Oh, congratulations, you passed Jerry West,' which was a special one for me, that's when you're like, oh, how far can I go? So I do the math. If I average 20-something [points], two and a half seasons, I'm playing 70 games, I do that math all the time just to get in your head how long do you have to play and to what level to catch the top of that list? "But after I do that, I don't think about it again until the next time it happens. So it's just a fun way to keep yourself in the moment and give yourself, for a hot second, something to look forward to. But that's not why I'll keep going. It's more that I want to get to a level where we're competing and playing for championships."

NBC Sports Bay Area

How special was it for you to have your No. 21 jersey retired by the Lakers? What did that moment mean to you? Michael Cooper: That’s the one that brought me to tears. Hall of Fame I cried a little bit because I was a little emotional because you’re thinking about all the people that helped you out along that path. But the criteria for getting your jersey number retired I was told by the late great Jerry West was a little different and you had to be an All-Star; you had to have certain criterias — you had to average 15 or something points, but with Jeanie Buss taking the lead of her dad Dr. [Jerry] Buss, who’s always been an innovator and creator and just doing different things out of the norm; when they came and told me that they were going to honor me, and I think a little bit of that had to do with me being in the Hall of Fame, I never ever could see my jersey being hung up in the rafters for however long basketball to be played wherever it is that the Lakers play is the ultimate honor and I’ve always played this game for the love of the game and once I got the love in me, I’ve always played for championships and I’ve always wanted to be part of something special; and the Lakers is like family. That’s the only organization that I’ve ever known. I’ve never played for another owner — I’ve played for different coaches, but Pat Riley was THE COACH for me.

ScoopB.com

Zach Kram: Youngest 40-point scorers in a Finals game: 1. Magic Johnson, 1980 2. Rick Barry, 1967 (3x) 3. Russell Westbrook, 2012 4. Jerry West, 1962 5. Jalen Williams, tonight

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SportsCenter: SGA was all BUCKETS in Game 4 🪣 #NBAFinals

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