The Warriors formally announced Friday that they have added Jerry West as one of the team's Exec Board members. West's position will encompass various areas and responsibilities, ranging from basketball operations to business, sponsorship and marketing endeavors. He will report directly to co-Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber (Warriors). The Warriors said that West "will travel to the Bay Area, though he plans to continue living in Southern California" (L.A. TIMES, 5/21). A Warriors source said that West is "coming in with at least some ownership stake, though the percentage, timing parameters and overall structure of the interest is not clear at this point." He is "not in a decision-making role." In San Jose, Tim Kawakami wrote West's ownership stake, "however large or small, is there and it makes sense." Kawakami: "Lacob isn’t doing this to fool around, and I don’t think West is considering this as a do-nothing situation, either. ... To come in with a known ownership interest… that gives us all a sense that there’s some added heft to this move" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 5/21).
ADDING FRONT-COURT POWER: The MERCURY NEWS' Kawakami wrote Lacob "has at times defended Larry Riley as a perfectly capable GM and Robert Rowell as a strong business-side president, but the additions" of West and recently hired Assistant GM Bob Myers "tell us more: Lacob knew he had to beef up his executive brainpower, and he has done it dramatically." West provides Lacob the platform to "step back and survey the entire landscape." West's addition "tells us that Joe Lacob understands what was lacking in his front office, and that he is more than willing to go far from the Warriors' norm to fix it" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 5/21). In San Jose, Adam Lauridsen wrote, "The substance of what he’s contributing will be important later, but what matters right now is perception. Suddenly, the Warriors are legitimate." The team gets a "great basketball mind, one of the best connected executives in the League, and an undisputed winner to help cleanse the franchise’s culture." West, who turns 73 next week, is "not a long-term solution given his age, but he’s a decisive break with the past" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 5/20). In S.F., Scott Ostler wrote West "didn't sign on with the Warriors to collect a check and dress up the team letterhead." It is a "very smart move by the Warriors, but it isn't risk-free." Ostler: "West will keep a scorecard. If he feels that his ideas are taken seriously, that they carry weight in the important decision-making, he will remain part of the team, and the Warriors will benefit. If he feels that his input is taken lightly, he'll be gone" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 5/22).
