Clippers honor Jerry West with empty seat in NBA Draft war room

LOS ANGELES — The two-day NBA draft was tinged with sadness for the LA Clippers without Jerry West in their war room.

West spent the last seven years as a consultant for the team, helping recruit Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

The Hall of Fame player and executive died 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 player, he loved meeting the players. He was very proud of where the players were going. Once the selections were made, he was so happy.”

The team gave West a seat in their war room and “put some of his favorites in there,” Frank said.

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

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

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

“It’s a bittersweet day,” Frank said. “I’m very sad that Jerry wasn’t here for this.”

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