NBA: Report, Jerry West Threatened The Warriors With His Resignation If They Went After Kevin Love

RadioOnFire.com - Jerry West apparently doesn’t think too highly of Kevin Love on the basketball court.

Love became a Cavalier, after a summer’s worth of signs, after being dealt from Minnesota to Cleveland for a package that included expected (and eventual) Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins, and Chris Grant-era casualty Anthony Bennett. Prior to that trade, Love was rumored to be headed to Cleveland’s combatants, the Golden State Warriors, in exchange for Klay Thompson, and David Lee. That’s what Minnesota wanted, at least.

One member of Golden State’s award-winning front office, however, was having none of it. From Chris Ballard’s typically must-read feature at Sports Illustrated, here is NBA legend and W’s head consultant Jerry West throwing himself in front of any notion of the idea of losing Thompson.

Perhaps West’s biggest contribution came last summer, though, when, along with Kerr, he adamantly opposed a trade centered around Thompson and Love. West argued that trading Thompson would be an enormous mistake. The Warriors were built on defense and Love, while a skilled offensive player, was a subpar defender. What’s more, West was certain Thompson would continue to improve, giving the Warriors a potential Hall of Fame backcourt for the next decade.

West felt so strongly that, according to one person close to the negotiations, he threatened to resign if the team made the trade. Chances are, West wouldn’t have actually done it—that’s just the way he talks—but when the most successful talent evaluator in league history feels that adamantly about something, it’s probably worth listening.

Speak to the principals today and everyone says it was a group decision, none more forcefully than West. As is his nature, he takes great pains to deflect any credit, praising the work of Myers and Lacob and the rest. Myers points out that, “It’s a lot easier to make suggestions than decisions.” As for Lacob, he dismisses the topic. “There was never, ever a time when we were going to consider trading Klay in that deal,” he says. “Jerry was strong on that, but so was everybody else.”

This may be true. Then again, a source with knowledge of the negotiations counters that, “The deal was done. And Jerry put his foot down.”