West, Lakers Plan Their Break

After weeks, months and probably years of franchise-wide discussion, soul-searching and building pressures, Executive Vice President Jerry West and the Lakers are set to announce on Monday his official, long-awaited--but perhaps only temporary--resignation from full-time duties.

West, who has served 18 uninterrupted and unmatched years as the franchise’s leading voice, culminating in June’s NBA championship victory, will shift to an informal role as a consultant, several team and league sources said this week.

Neither the Lakers nor West, 62, who won one Laker title as a player and six more as an executive, have ruled out his return as a top Laker decision-maker or in any other talent-evaluating capacity after he sits out the 2000-2001 season.

Many in the organization and close to West expect him to enjoy his time away, calm his frayed nerves after years of increasing anxiety, and eventually find his way back to a significant role again with the only franchise he has ever known, as player, coach and driving force.

And, in a typically peculiar final detail to conclude this inevitable but drawn-out decision, neither West nor owner Jerry Buss, who is on vacation, is expected to attend the scheduled news conference Monday to announce the change.

On Tuesday, before Buss left town, he and West met for lunch, though the particulars of West’s departure apparently had already been decided by then.

General Manager Mitch Kupchak, 46, who has handled increasing responsibility the last several seasons as West has edged away, will assume most of West’s role in his absence, the sources said, but probably will not change job titles.

Also, Coach Phil Jackson will maintain a strong say in roster decisions, though he has never sought day-to-day control of Laker personnel moves.

Meanwhile, Kurt Rambis, 42, the Laker coach for most of the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, is expected to be named an assistant general manager under Kupchak.

Kupchak and Rambis were front-court teammates for five seasons and two Laker championships in the 1980s.

Jim Buss Jr., son of the owner, also is an assistant general manager.

When reached Thursday afternoon, both Kupchak and Rambis declined to comment about West’s status or the timetable for his eventual departure.

“That’s a ‘Jerry question,’ ” Kupchak said, “so I have no comment on that.”

Laker spokesman John Black also refused to either confirm or deny that West will resign Monday and that Rambis will be named an assistant general manager, either then or soon afterward.

West apparently has not been to the Laker offices for several weeks--though he ran the Lakers’ draft room in June and has participated in personnel decisions as recently as this week--and was unavailable for comment.

Rambis, who served as an assistant to Jerry Buss last season, a role that included scouting opponents and analyzing some potential trades, confirmed that there have been discussions about his taking a spot in the general manager’s office.

But Rambis, working under a multiyear contract given to him by Buss after Rambis was replaced by Jackson in June 1999, emphasized that the move has not been finalized.

“Nothing official has happened yet, so I really can’t comment on it,” said Rambis, who has of late mainly focused on returning to the NBA head-coaching fraternity after his brief Laker stint.

Rambis said that a front-office job does interest him.

“I’m just looking for an opportunity to work doing something,” Rambis said. “Both fields interest me. But sometimes you can’t sit around and pick the one you want, it kind of picks you.”

West’s departure comes as little surprise.

Since the summer of 1996, when he traded for then-17-year-old Kobe Bryant and gutted the roster to free salary space to sign Shaquille O’Neal, West has told associates that the pressures of maintaining elite-franchise status in the NBA had grown too much to bear.

He first publicly contemplated resigning during the 1997-98 season, but instead accepted a four-year, $14-million-plus contract extension from Buss that tied him to the team through the 2003-2004 season.

Still, West, a taut perfectionist during the best of times, was increasingly worn down even as the Lakers marched toward the 2000 title, and suffered from several health problems.

The main issues delaying the official announcement were Buss’ desire to find a way to keep West in the fold and West’s desire not to throw the Lakers’ front office into chaos during the crucial player-movement period, which began Tuesday.

As it is, the Lakers have not made a significant move during the period, though several sources said Kupchak has discussed signing New Jersey Net free-agent guard Kendall Gill for the Lakers’ midlevel, $2.25-million exception.

The 6-foot-5 Gill, 32, who averaged 13.1 points as an out-of-position small forward last season, could be a perfect athletic fit for Jackson’s defensive and offensive philosophies.

Saying that he could not bring himself to watch, West did not attend any Laker playoff games in the last two rounds.

By then, West has told associates, his decision to leave had already been made.

“When you compete against yourself--and that’s what you’re doing, we’re competing against our success in this town,” West said in April, “winning games sometimes is not enough.”

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