06/14/2024
I was very sad to learn of the passing of Jerry West. 86 is a long life but today with so many living into their 90s. Maybe he was cut a bit short.
I like millions of others grew up watching Jerry West play with the Lakers in the 1960s and 70s and obviously if you’re a Laker fan, you know post playing days Jerry was instrumental as a coach and leading the front office in the Laker organization for years.
My Jerry West story goes back 30+ years so my memory might be a little cloudy, but you’ll definitely get the jest of the story.
I was invited to play at the pro celebrity charity tournament (I think it was 1992?) as part of the then Nissan Open at the Riviera Country Club. When I arrived, I was introduced to the group that I would play with. It was a best ball tournament. As you can see in the picture. My five-some included another childhood hero of mine Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) and Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back Kotter). Quickly to Chuck Connors I was having a massive fanboy moment and kept my cool for hole after hole sharing a cart with him. After spending a decent amount of time together chatting and playing, I finally got up the nerve to just tell him, as a child, I would never miss an episode. These were first run episodes. And of course the Rifleman was one of the first really successful shows in syndication and I watched it religiously until I graduated high school. So, was about a the sixth hole when I finally gushed to him how much he meant to me and my childhood (and by the way, there were a lot of stories about how he could be very mean and how he drank way too much. That was the reason why I didn’t want to bring anything up).
Anyway, I asked him if he would mind if I referred to him as “Pa” for the next. He belly laughed and said, “All right, but only this hole.” during that next hole I got in as many appreciative “Pa’s” as I could.🤣 He was in a great mood that day, and we all had a good time together.
But back to Jerry. When the celebrity portion of the tournament was over, we all gathered up by the steps going into the clubhouse, and not remembering how it happened, found myself in a group of a few men talking with Jerry West. I don’t remember why I ended up in this group but we obviously were talking about golf and the question came up to Jerry. When did he start playing?
I don’t remember exactly how he responded, but what I do vividly remember was Jerry starting into a story about leaving the Lakers as a player, he now had plenty of time to play golf. And as many athletes find themselves doing when they’re competing against each other on a golf course they start playing for money. I know Jerry was naming names of who he would go out and gamble with on the golf course but I can’t remember those names now. What I do remember is he said that he was losing thousands upon thousands of dollars on these games. For a decent length of time. As you know an athlete like Jerry West is a legendary competitor and could have quite the temper (certainly on court). For those of you who might have known or run across Jerry, you also know how colorful his language could be. 🤣🤣 🤣 In many ways, it’s what makes the greats, great. Not the anger but the drive to win.
He continued by telling us that he got so tired of losing to the various group of golfers that were literally taking tons of money out of his pocket that he decided he wanted revenge and formulated a plan. Jerry would disappear to Florida. There he had a pro in mind and that gentleman would coach and teach Jerry the game of golf. As I recall he stayed there for something like three months (I’m assuming it was basketball off-season) and played up to 72 holes of golf a day. Then he came back home nearly, if not, a scratch golfer.
Now it’s time to call the boys for a round.  Jerry said he assumed that the guys in his golf group expected to clean Jerry’s clock again. As you can easily guess Jerry West took them for tens of thousands of dollars that first round alone, which I also believe was at the Riviera Country Club. I remember him saying he was a member for decades.
To a certain degree that’s a fun side of Jerry, but it also shows you what he’s willing to do in order to win. What he’s accomplished as a player, coach and general manager and professional basketball makes him one of my heroes and an absolute GOAT.
Lucky to have shared the life-plain with this one. God bless you Jerry.
🙏🏼🏀🙏🏼🏌🏽♂️🙏🏼🏀🙏🏼

