West in South? Not on This Map

First things first.

I believe Jerry West is going to Memphis.

I also believe mutton-chopped fat guys moonlighting in satin suits are Elvis, and those who make more than minimum wage can sing the blues.

Don’t get me wrong. There is no doubt that reports from that genteel Tennessee burg--when Jason Williams is out of town, anyway--are accurate.

Yes, right now, Jerry West is going to work for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Yes, somebody there actually believed it enough to leak it.

No, I don’t blame the locals for trumpeting this with a pitched fervor generally accorded the occasional news that somebody has been spotted watching the Liberty Bowl.

The Grizzlies are a tear-down. Jerry West is The Cement Mixer From Cabin Creek.

The Grizzlies are trying to sell the NBA in a college town. Jerry West is the NBA logo.

It’s a match made in, if not heaven, then a canoe piloted by Burt Reynolds.

Except the Memphis folks don’t know Jerry like we know Jerry.

They don’t realize that the instincts that make him so brilliant are also the demons that make him so volatile.

They weren’t there at that news conference many years ago when he was announced as the Laker head coach ... then turned down the job on the spot.

They weren’t there to hear him tearfully discuss his retirement as general manager ... more than a year before he actually retired.

This is a man so intense, yet so exacting, he can jubilantly say yes one minute, then emphatically say no the next minute.

And mean both things.

He has done this a thousand times involving things far less emotional than this, the potential end of his association with the only place this 63-year-old man has worked his entire life.

West attended a Laker playoff game Sunday, looking more relaxed than I’ve seen him in years.

He’s going to give that up to work for a flighty owner, Michael Heisley, who treats his franchise like a used car lot?

He’s going to try to win with a payroll that includes some $80 million committed to--gasp--Jason Williams and Michael Dickerson?

He’s going to give up the first tee for last place? Tenure for tension? Sainthood for the salvage business?

I won’t believe the most enduring Laker will become a Grizzly until I see him standing at a Memphis podium.

Which brings us to the second thing.

If West does take the job, I’ll be cheering for him. And I won’t be booing the Lakers.

Before criticizing Jerry Buss for allowing West to leave, understand that West has already left, and retirement was his idea.

Sure, West, despite making millions, has always been angry that Buss wouldn’t give him a piece of the team like he gave Magic Johnson.

But West was so frazzled when he retired two years ago, he told me there was no amount of money that Buss could give him to stay.

And, certainly, he was uncomfortable with Phil Jackson’s role, both on the sidelines and at the side of Buss’ daughter Jeanie.

But by the time he walked away, he said his health was more important than any of that.

Remember, West is one of the only people in town who didn’t watch the Lakers’ Game 7 comeback against the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2000 Western Conference finals.

He couldn’t bear the stress. He was 100 miles away, at a movie theater, watching “Gladiator.”

Clearly, now, West is mentally ready to go back to work.

But clearly too, the Lakers are not a place that could offer him much comfort or competitive stimulation.

West has never worked well when he’s not the biggest guy in the room. But that room now contains Jackson, a giant ironically hired by West when he realized his feuding stars couldn’t win without him.

West also loves a last-to-first challenge. But plugging in one power forward and a backup point guard every year--the current duty of West-anointed General Manager Mitch Kupchak--is not exactly that sort of challenge.

Sure, the Lakers could offer West his old job back.

But why would he want it?

Sometimes, the king of the playground needs to see if he can do it on another playground.

This could be one of those times.

It would be nice if West could wait for two years until his consultant’s deal runs out, then join the Clippers. Or maybe he could wait until the Lakers need rebuilding again, and reclaim his old office.

But age, and a competitive nature, apparently dictate that he wants to do something now.

And if so, good for him.

If he wants to take this one last halfcourt shot--and believe me, this is longer than the one against the Knicks in 1970--he should be allowed to do so in peace.

Granted, it will be hard to see Jerry West working somewhere else. Making decisions that could actually hurt the Lakers. Enduring the sort of losing that is so unlike him. Creating and fretting on the other side of the country.

It will be weird to hear rumors--and almost immediately, there will be rumors--that Kobe Bryant is trying to figure out a way to join him.

It won’t be much fun for us. But if West wants this opportunity, shouldn’t his fans want it for him? And is this really the fault of the Lakers?

Not that West wants it. Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn’t. I tried to reach him Wednesday. He wasn’t talking. I wasn’t blaming him.

However this thing ends up, it’s going to sound like something out of a song.

The Memphis folks would guess B.B. King.

I’m still betting on the Beach Boys.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com