Basketball Still Labor of Love for West

Jerry West ruled out nothing, but spent most of the time sounding very much as if he would be back next season, running the Lakers, and sweating through every moment of defeat or victory.

In his first extended public interview in months, West remained somewhat vague, declining to say whether this draining season would be his last with the Lakers and adding that he has considered taking a year off.

But he also spoke vividly of the Laker future, with him as a big part of it.

“Fellas, I’m not going anywhere, OK?” West said Tuesday morning in a 30-minute session with reporters. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to live in Los Angeles, period, OK? I’m not looking for another job. . . .

“I’ve only worked for one team. And the loyalty to this team is a lot. I’ve had some people that have had an interest in me, and it’s flattering.

“But I don’t belong any other place except here.”

West, 60, the executive vice president who signed a four-year, $14-million contract extension that begins this summer, did say he would meet with owner Jerry Buss after the season to discuss his situation.

West privately protested the Lakers’ signing of Dennis Rodman, told friends and associates recently that he was planning to walk away from the team, and has been notably absent from most of the Laker games this season.

He was, however, in attendance during his team’s Game 1 victory over Houston on Sunday.

“You know, I signed a four-year contract a year ago, which is supposed to start next year,” West said. “But there was no guarantee that I was going to be here forever.

“Fellas, I love this team more than anything, OK? I care about this team so much that sometimes it brings me a lot of pain. It’s simply easier for me to watch the games at home sometimes. . . .

“As far as my future, I think the most important thing for me is to have the enthusiasm that’s really necessary to do this job. That’s the most important thing.

“And sometimes, when the walls seem like they’re kind of closing in on you, sometimes you really question that.”

West repeated that he’d made a promise to Shaquille O’Neal when O’Neal signed with the Lakers three years ago that West would be around as long as O’Neal would.

“I really want to see him win a championship, more than anything,” West said, before alluding to the possibility--not exactly discouraged by O’Neal--that the franchise center could exercise a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave as a free agent this summer.

“I really believe he will retire here as an L.A. player,” West said. “I really do. . . . I think that he’s going to be a Laker for the rest of his life.”

Could West possibly leave the Lakers to take an official role in a possible Michael Ovitz-controlled NFL expansion team?

“He’s someone I’ve known for a while,” said West, who already has a consulting relationship with Ovitz. “Someone I have great respect for.

“But I know a football’s oblong, and I know a basketball is round, but I don’t know how to throw a football. I know how to dribble and shoot a basketball. . . .

“I would like to see Los Angeles have a football franchise. And if I could help in any way, I’ll do that. But never at the interference of what I feel is the most important thing for me, and that’s the Lakers.”

On other hot-button Laker issues, West was candid, and direct:

* On his stance when Buss insisted on bringing in Rodman: “I didn’t think he would be a good fit for us. And I publicly stated that.

“[Buss] owns this team. And if you want to criticize him, criticize me, because maybe I wasn’t in there holding onto his leg like Jeff Van Gundy was holding onto Alonzo Mourning [trying to break up a fight in last season’s playoffs].

“[Buss] wants to win, fellas. That’s the thing he really wants.”

* On the perception that his relationship with Buss has been severely strained by that move and others this season: “This guy has been so great to me, I just can’t even tell you how great he’s been to me.

“I think one of the things that pains me at times is, I read about a deteriorating relationship. That simply is not true, OK? That really bothers me. It’s just not right.

“I mean, we don’t always agree on everything. We haven’t for 20 years. But I will tell you, he is a very committed owner. And that probably puts more pressure on all of us around here because we sort of follow his lead.”

* On the sometimes-chilly relationship between O’Neal and Kobe Bryant: “I don’t think it’s a personal problem. These guys like each other.

“We’re talking about a 20-year-old kid here and a person who’s anxious to get a championship in Shaquille O’Neal. . . .

“But they’re both great people. . . . I think, as an athlete, you really learn through tough times that maybe the best friend you have is sitting right beside you and you didn’t even know that.”

* On Kurt Rambis’ performance as the interim coach after the firing of Del Harris, and the possibility that Rambis could get the permanent job: “[Rambis has] done a terrific job. I wrote him a little note the other day, I said, ‘You’ve finally arrived as an NBA coach.’ . . .

“One of the things that Jerry Buss has said, he wanted to keep his options available. But . . . [Rambis has] done a terrific job. I know I’m very pleased with him.”