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To hear Jerry West tell it, the NBA draft was a little different when he passed through it in 1960. "I was the second player taken in the draft, the second player," West told a packed house at The Crow's Nest restaurant along the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor on Tuesday afternoon. "And today, when get you drafted today, you know about it pretty quick. I found out the next day I was drafted No. 2 in the draft. So, it's come a long way." San Jose Mercury-News

Draft, Jerry West 

A prospect walks into a small hotel room, a room that has had the bed removed in favor of a round table and offers Walgreens-purchased water as the only refreshments. The prospect sees two headboards on the wall, but no beds. He sees a table, half glasses of water and eight people (Jerry West, Bob Myers, Travis Schlenk, Kirk Lacob, Mark Jackson, Larry Riley, Larry Harris and Speedy Claxton) ready to interrogate. San Francisco Chronicle

Draft, Mark Jackson, Jerry West, Larry Riley, Bob Myers, Kirk Lacob 

The Warriors’ front office will take this week off from hosting group workouts at their downtown Oakland facility and instead will be in Chicago for the predraft combine. General manager Bob Myers, minority owner Jerry West and several other members of the team’s front office will be among more than 100 NBA executives and who will be taking a look at prospective draftees. CSNBayArea.com

Golden State Warriors, Draft, Jerry West, Bob Myers 

The Elias Sports Bureau reports that (Rondo) became the first player in NBA history to reach each of those thresholds in a playoff game. Five other players had recorded 40-10-8 games: Tracy McGrady, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson (twice). ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo, Tracy McGrady, Jerry West, Charles Barkley, Oscar Robertson, Clyde Drexler 

Wade finished with 23 points after scoring only two in the first half. From our friends at Elias, he is the first player to score at least 20 points in 12-straight playoff games against the Celtics since Jerry West did so in 18 straight games from 1966 to 1969. ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Dwyane Wade, Jerry West 

Radnich: With your old team, the Lakers, being eliminated from the playoffs, do you think they'll have to make major changes around Kobe Bryant in order to compete? Jerry West: It all depends. Are they going to have the ability to do it? You have to give something to get something, and their roster ... They have three terrific players, and wanting to trade one of those players is going to be a problem because of the money they make. San Francisco Chronicle

Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Trade, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Jerry West 

Krueger: What would you like to do to see (the Warriors) team improve and become a playoff team for next season? What do you think are the primary needs? Jerry West: Well, we need to be healthy - that's the most important thing. If we can be healthy, we're gonna be a better team. If we can stay healthy, we're gonna be a better team. But we need a couple of veteran players on our team ... And I'm not talking about guys that are 35, 36 years old. I'm talking about people that have some life left in them, that can really contribute, and give our coach some players that can do the intangible things a heck of a lot better than some of the players we have. We have the youngest team in the league, I believe - we're gonna get a little bit younger in the draft this year, but having said that we can't rely on having the youngest team in the league every year. We have to start producing. San Francisco Chronicle

Golden State Warriors, Jerry West 

Radnich: Is it too simple to say, "If Bogut's healthy and plays well, wow - it's gonna be a really fun season. If for whatever reason, Bogut doesn't come through - uh oh, more of the same"? Jerry West: He had two freak injuries, very freak injuries. And this guy's a heck of a player - he's not a good player, he's a HECK of a player. He's a tough kid, he takes up more space, he can block shots, he can rebound; and obviously we'd like to have another guy to go with him and David Lee, another big guy. But I also think our backcourt needs addressing - Steph was hurt last year, we're hopeful that he's gonna be healthy, but we also have to have some insurance. San Francisco Chronicle

Golden State Warriors, Free Agency, Trade, Jerry West, Stephen Curry 

Jordan's struggles in the front office aren't unique. He joins a long list of ex-NBA superstars who were somewhat less-stellar executives. The Wall Street Journal examined the careers of 10 NBA Hall of Famers who went on to careers in management, ranking them by their career win percentages. Only three have cumulative records above .500 in their management roles. Jerry West leads the pack with a .629 winning percentage. He won four championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Joe Dumars, a former Detroit Pistons player, led the team to a title from the front office in 2004. Wall Street Journal

Charlotte Bobcats, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Joe Dumars 

Warriors executive board member Jerry West said guard Monta Ellis was maybe his favorite player but the trade was worth the risk. Actually, risk is too strong of a word. “Frankly, I don’t see a risk here myself,” West said before Wednesday’s game atBoston. “I don’t. We get one of the best big men in the league. Period.” Contra Costa Times

Golden State Warriors, Trade, Jerry West, Andrew Bogut 

West called Bogut the third-best center in the league and said the future rewards from the trade outweigh the setback the Warriors will endure now. He all but salivated at the prospects of putting Bogut with forward David Lee, point guard Stephen Curry and rookie swingman Klay Thompson. West said he recognizes Ellis had a special place in the hearts of fans. But losing Ellis, and even second-year big Ekpe Udoh, was a necessary casualty. West pointed out that the league is pining for centers and said several teams wanted Bogut. That the Warriors had what it took to land Bogut was a good thing. “I think next year, oh my goodness. If I were a fan, I’d be very, very excited,” West said, later adding, “You cannot judge a trade by what happens today. I think you have to look at what happens in the future. I think there’s a lot of people particularly in the league, who I talked to, that thought we did really well.” Contra Costa Times

Golden State Warriors, Trade, Jerry West, Andrew Bogut 

West said he recognizes Ellis had a special place in the hearts of fans. But losing Ellis, and even second-year big Ekpe Udoh, was a necessary casualty. West pointed out that the league is pining for centers and said several teams wanted Bogut. That the Warriors had what it took to land Bogut was a good thing. “I think next year, oh my goodness. If I were a fan, I’d be very, very excited,” West said, later adding, “You cannot judge a trade by what happens today. I think you have to look at what happens in the future. I think there’s a lot of people particularly in the league, who I talked to, that thought we did really well.” Contra Costa Times

Golden State Warriors, Jerry West 

"… I think what Kobe really probably wants is just be informed. As a leader, as a future Hall of Famer, as a guy who has brought five championships to the Lakers and the fans of Los Angeles, he just wants to probably have more communication, probably like he did when Phil Jackson was there and he worked well with Mitch. I don't think that Kobe feels he's got that type of relationship or the communication has been there with Jim. "So, I think what has to probably happen is sit Kobe down [and] Jim, sit him down [too] and say, 'Hey, Dr. Buss was the master at taking you to lunch or taking you to dinner and really going over what he thought about, or what he was thinking and what he wanted to do with the team and Jerry West was great at that as well.' Kobe, Mitch and Jim just got to get on the same page and it will be OK." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss, Jim Buss 

When Bryant was informed at shootaround about Johnson's suggestion for a sitdown between him and Jim Buss he only offered a one-word response -- "perhaps." As for why Bryant made the comments in the first place that would necessitate the meeting with him and Buss? "Nobody else is going to say it," Bryant said. "I'm the only one with cojones big enough to say it, so I said it." ESPN.com

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss, Jim Buss 

Hall of Famer and current Warriors executive Jerry West joined "The Dan Patrick Show" on Wednesday and said he wasn't placing blame on anyone in the Golden State organization for parting ways with Lin. “To me, you don’t place blame,” West said. “You give credit. And all the credit goes to Jeremy. It’s an unbelievable story. There’s no blame here. It’s just some people didn’t see what he had inside. He’s just a terrific player. I couldn’t be more happy for him.” CSN Chicago

Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Jerry West, Jeremy Lin 

He said the team was trying to sign DeAndre Jordan (who ended up staying with the Clippers) and they needed to waive some players. West went on to say that Lin will be in New York "for awhile" because he is well suited for the team. “I think this is going to be one of the best stories we’ve seen in the NBA in years and years and years,” said West. CSN Chicago

Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Jerry West, Jeremy Lin 

Two sources familiar with the workout said Arenas moved well and made a positive impression, but there was no sense of how quickly – if at all – the Lakers would pursue signing him to a free-agent contract. Besides Kupchak, Golden State Warriors consultant Jerry West attended the workout, too, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo! Sports

Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Free Agency, Gilbert Arenas, Jerry West 

“He was just watching,” one league source said. Yahoo! Sports

Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Free Agency, Gilbert Arenas, Jerry West 

That was months ago. Not a ton has happened. The Warriors are still stuck in limbo. OK, I had to ask, flat out: Jerry, are the Warriors listening to you? “We have a lot of open discussions,” West said of his relationship with GM Larry Riley, assistant GM Bob Myers, and Joe and Kirk Lacob. “I was up there last week, maybe I’m there more than you think. We talked about draft picks and rosters and talked about a lot of different names. “They’ve been very engaging to me. Now at the end of the day, they’re going to make the decision. “But we’ve had really good rapport and the guys there are unbelievably hard-working. Very impressed with the work ethic. Very impressed. Obviously, Joe wants something fantastic to happen.” San Jose Mercury-News

Golden State Warriors, Jerry West 

Jerry West readily admits that he hasn't had a major impact on the Warriors in his role as executive board member, but that might be about to change. "The Logo," a 14-time All-Star as a player and twice the league's Executive of the Year as a general manager, has acted merely as a remote adviser for the Warriors thus far. He says that he'll be a regular in the Bay Area after this weekend's Northern Trust Open charity golf tournament in Southern California, and that the Warriors might be closer to becoming a playoff team than their 9-14 record indicates. "I'm going to be up here a lot more. I think something can be done here, and it's kind of fun for me," said West, who watches every game on a 60-inch TV from his Bel Air home and talks regularly with general manager Larry Riley, assistant GM Bob Myers and co-owner Joe Lacob. "It's a challenge, but it can happen in a year's time if we can get lucky with a few things." San Francisco Chronicle

Golden State Warriors, Jerry West