How the Clippers honored Jerry West at NBA draft

The late Jerry West was best known for his ties with the Lakers, but the legendary player-turned-executive impacted the fortunes of several other franchises, too. 

After helping the Warriors build a dynasty, West tried to do the same with the Clippers by recruiting the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. While West’s efforts didn’t pay dividends for the Lakers’ crosstown rivals (not yet, at least), he left a lasting impact on the franchise.

According to their front-office head, Lawrence Frank, during the just-concluded NBA draft, the Clippers left one of their seats in the war room empty to honor West.

“He loved the draft,” Frank said of West. “It was like Christmas [to him]. He loved knowing every single player, he loved meeting the players. He took great pride in where guys would go. After the draft selections were made, he was just so happy. It’s a bitter-sweet day. We’re happy with how our draft turned out, but also very sad that Jerry wasn’t here for it. We had a seat for him, with some of his favorites on there. We just want to honor and respect Jerry every single day with how we go about our business.”

West was in the Warriors’ war room when they drafted Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green, which led to the franchise winning a title in 2015. He was also instrumental in the Clippers drafting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2018, only for the franchise to trade him to OKC several years later. Earlier in his career as an executive, West was in the Lakers war room that drafted Kobe Bryant and James Worthy. 

The Clippers drafted Cameron Christie, the brother of Lakers forward Max Christie, with the 46th pick on Thursday. They did not have a first-round pick.