Clippers honor Jerry West with empty seat in NBA Draft War Room

LOS ANGELES – The two-day NBA Draft was overshadowed by sadness for the LA Clippers without Jerry West in their war room.

West has served as a consultant to the team for the past seven years and helped recruit Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

The Hall of Fame player and manager died on June 12 at the age of 86.

“He loved the draft. It was like Christmas,” Lawrence Frank, the team’s president of basketball operations, said Thursday. “He loved knowing every single player, he loved getting to know the players. He took a lot of pride in where the guys went. After the selection was made, he was so happy.”

The team left a spot open for West in its war room and “put some of its favorites there,” Frank said.

“We just want to honor and respect Jerry every single day.”

The Clippers didn’t have a first-round pick this year. They drafted Cameron Christie from Minnesota with the 46th pick in the second round.

Frank said he and general manager Trent Redden valued West as an “incredible mentor, friend and advisor.”

“It’s a bittersweet day,” said Frank. “Very sad that Jerry wasn’t there.”

Born in West Virginia, West played at West Virginia University from 1957 to 1960 before being selected by the Minneapolis Lakers as the second overall pick in the NBA draft. The team moved to Los Angeles, where he was selected as an All-Star 14 times and won the 1972 NBA championship with the Lakers. He later worked as a manager for the team.