West looking forward to experiencing rivalry as a fanby Greg Boeck, Special to FOXSports.comUpdated: June 3, 2008, 2:35 PM EST124 comments add this When he handed the Western Conference championship trophy to the Los Angeles Lakers last week at the request of the NBA, league logo-man and legend Jerry West says he felt a career catharsis.
The player who was at the doorstep of perennial bullying by Boston Celtics in the '60s and the executive who finally got vindication for a franchise, a town and himself with two curse-lifting triumphs in the '80s passed the torch, as a fan, to a new generation of players in the most storied and heated rivalry in the NBA.
"It's almost like the end of my days here as my former association with the Lakers," West said of his feelings that night. "Now I'll try to watch as a fan."
In his remarkable 47-year journey, West has experienced the ultimate front row seat in the Lakers-Celtics hostilities — from Danny Thomas to Jack Nicholson courtside, from Elgin Baylor to Kobe Bryant in Lakers gold, from Bill Russell to Kevin Garnett in Celtics green, from the old Sports Arena to the new TD Banknorth Garden.
The rivalry is reprised for the 11th time in the NBA Finals, which open Thursday in Boston.
West played in and lost six painful title bouts with the Celtics, which nearly ended his career prematurely in 1969 and still affects him today.