USA TODAY looks back at Basketball HOFer Jerry West's death under the header, "Jerry West deserved more from the Lakers. Team should have repaired their rift years ago." The Lakers' four-sentence statement on the death of West "could’ve been less perfunctory, more heartfelt" -- more like the warm remembrance Heat President and former Lakers coach Pat Riley offered. West "deserved more from the Lakers, and that day may come." It’s "just not happening now" for West, who was "one of the franchise’s six greatest players," led the team to a title as a player, was responsible for four more titles as the team’s GM and is one of the most influential executives in sports history. This is "less about the statement itself (it’s almost certain the Lakers deferred to family wishes) than what the statement reflects: The relationship between West and the Lakers, the team he played for and worked for from 1960 to 2000, had deteriorated."
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