As general manager of the Lakers, West had a good relationship with Pat Riley, who won four championships coaching the team in the 1980s. But he and Phil Jackson, another highly successful Laker coach, were not so simpatico. In fact, West says that Jackson actually kicked him out of the Laker locker room once after a game. Thinking that Jackson had finished his postgame remarks to the team, West entered and was told, by name, to leave in no uncertain terms. Jackson claims his utterance was impersonal, but West says others present support his version of events. Nonetheless, West says he always tried to be respectful of a coach’s territory.
