Jerry West Doesn’t Think Lakers ‘Will Be Good for Much Longer’
The former Laker great doesn’t like the kind of defense L.A. is playing — something Phil Jackson agrees with — and sounds like he’d put his money on Boston winning it all this year (which Phil may not necessarily be in agreement with.) From the LA Times: “If there’s a loose ball now, how often do they get it?’ West asked as the keynote speaker Thursday during the annual Orange County Automobile Dealers Assn. luncheon. ‘The reason you ‘can’t play defense’ is because you can’t!’ ‘He’s right,’ Jackson said with a smile after Sunday’s practice when West’s comments were relayed to him. ‘We have to do a lot of things right to play defense the way we want to. Most of it is about controlling the tempo of the game. Some of it is about speed and outright speed. We’re not the fastest team on the boards. We can do it if we control things the right way.’ And West had more concerns about the Lakers than just their defense. He believes the team’s mileage and age will soon catch up to it: ‘I don’t think the Lakers will be good for much longer. You can keep a car running for a long time by changing the tires, etc. You can’t change a player’s tires.’ He also shared his belief that the Boston Celtics have a good chance to win the NBA title: ‘I think Boston is a very dangerous team,’ he said. ‘I would not want to play them every other night.’”
Read the SLAMonline Discussion Rules before posting.