At the Lakers third game this season, against the Spurs, I turned in my courtside seat, pulled out my mini-binoculars and spotted Jerry West standing in a luxury box. I hustled upstairs, twice used a counterfeit pass to trick security guards, and reached the hallowed door on which I knocked. A starlet opened up, and I said, \u201cThanks, sweetheart\u201d as I breezed by.<\/p>\n
\tGeorge Thomas Clark \u2013 Jerry, how you doin\u2019?<\/p>\n
\tJerry West \u2013 Have we met?<\/p>\n
\tGTC \u2013 Only telepathically during the sixties when I often watched you guys get beat by Bill Russell and the Celtics. <\/p>\n
\tJW \u2013 Wilt and I won thirty-three straight games and a title in nineteen seventy-two. Then, as general manager, I masterminded several world champions. What\u2019s on your resume?<\/p>\n
\tGTC \u2013 I played pretty well against division two college players in pickup games. The start of my prime coincided with the end of yours. I wish we could\u2019ve gone one on one. <\/p>\n
\tJW \u2013 Who the hell are you?<\/p>\n
\tGTC \u2013 Here\u2019s my card.<\/p>\n
\tJW \u2013 Okay, GeorgeThomasClark.com, what do you want?<\/p>\n
\tGTC \u2013 I\u2019d like to talk about the Lakers.<\/p>\n
\tJW \u2013 I really can\u2019t answer any questions. I advise the Clippers.<\/p>\n
\tGTC \u2013 I don\u2019t have any questions, just proclamations. Looks like the Lakers are again having problems on defense. Down by sixteen points after giving up forty in the first quarter tonight, and one-twenty-eight and one-twenty-four their first two games.<\/p>\n
\tJW \u2013 Fans want scoring. They don\u2019t pay to see a wrestling match. You can\u2019t manhandle people like when I played.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 I see you playing point guard in today\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 Are you implying that at almost six-four, with long arms, I\u2019d be too small for shooting guard?<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 You\u2019d be better out front where, instead of a size disadvantage, you\u2019d often be as tall or taller than those guarding you. I think you\u2019d average about twenty points and ten assists a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 At least twenty.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 I know it\u2019s early and the Lakers have a lot of new players who need to learn how to play together. But I get the feeling they\u2019re outgunned. Not by a lot but by enough.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 They\u2019re not the Showtime Lakers or the Warriors of today. They\u2019ll need more stars for that. <\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 Glad LeBron\u2019s heating up after only scoring four in the first half. There he goes, basket, layup, three-pointer, another basket, nine quick points, and the Lakers only trail by three after the third quarter.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 Kyle Kuzma\u2019s already got twenty-eight. There\u2019s thirty. I like his game. Josh Hart\u2019s, too. He\u2019s hit four of five from downtown tonight.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 Hart should be starting.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 No question.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 The Spurs keep hitting threes, two more by Bryn Forbes, a guy most haven\u2019t heard of. Lakers down by eight.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 Look at Kuzma\u2019s stroke on that three. He\u2019s got thirty-seven.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 Still down by three, time running out, and LeBron\u2019s got the ball.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 I always wanted the ball at the end of the game.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 Mr. Clutch.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 Gotta believe it. And LeBron does. Way beyond the arc \u2013 swish. We\u2019re going to overtime.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 Lakers need a win.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 I think they\u2019ll get it. Jumper by LeBron, layup by Hart, three by Lonzo Ball, LeBron an assist to young Jonathan Williams. Lakers up by six. <\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge are playing great, both more than thirty points, cutting LA\u2019s lead to three. Jesus.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 Incredible. Hart\u2019s falling out of bounds and throws the ball down court to Lonzo who touch passes to LeBron for a layup, foul, and three points. <\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 I wish the Lakers would extend their defensive perimeter. In forty-four seconds San Antonio hits three baskets for seven points to take a one-point lead. <\/p>\n
JW \u2013 Another chance for LeBron as time\u2019s expiring. Down one, I assume he\u2019ll drive.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 He should. Why\u2019s he waiting? Now he\u2019s got to shoot a step-back three. That misses.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 Hell of a game. You going to write about the Clippers, too?<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 Sure, all four times you play the Lakers. <\/p>\n
JW \u2013 We\u2019ll win more games this year than the Lakers.<\/p>\n
GTC \u2013 Betcha a million on that one.<\/p>\n
JW \u2013 You can\u2019t cover it and I can\u2019t bet. <\/p>\n