Lakers Rumors: 'No Indication' LA Will Target Jerry West Post-Magic Johnson Exit

Jerry West is a Los Angeles Lakers legend, spending his entire Hall of Fame playing career with the team before working as a Lakers coach and an executive from 1976-2000.

Now he's on the rival Los Angeles Clippers, but the Lakers reportedly aren't going to make a push to get him back, per Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Amick noted: "Ever since [Clippers owner Steve Ballmer] bought the Clippers for a then-record $2 billion back in May 2014, the former Microsoft CEO has done everything possible to cut into the Lakers’ stranglehold on the local market."

A major part of that effort was, "hiring a Lakers legend in West to be a trusted voice at a time when so many expected him to return to Laker Land (sources say that a similar role with the Lakers was never offered to West back then, and there is no indication that [Lakers owner Jeanie Buss] is attempting to woo him to her side this time around either—despite [Shaquille O'Neal] advocating for such a move recently on TNT)."

There's little doubt that a turf war is brewing between the Lakers and Clippers ahead of a summer where both organizations are positioned to be players in free agency.

While the Lakers were immersed in drama in Year 1 of the LeBron James experience and missed the playoffs altogether, the Clippers have been one of the league's pleasant surprises, capped off by their 31-point comeback win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of their first-round series.

The Clippers are going to make a push to land both Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant this summer, as Amick noted. The Lakers, meanwhile, will certainly keep themselves in the Anthony Davis trade talks and will try to lure free agents using their historical prestige and the presence of James.

But while the Clippers have put their best foot forward under the leadership of Ballmer, West, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, general manager Michael Winger and head coach Doc Rivers, the Lakers enter the summer under the shadow of Magic Johnson shockingly stepping down from his post as president of basketball operations, all before head coach Luke Walton was fired.

Another factor to consider: There have long been rumblings that the Lakers may not be attractive to free agents this summer and that other big names don't want to play with James.

As B/R's Howard Beck wrote in November, "one rival executive calls the Clippers 'the most attractive free-agent situation of all of them, because none of the available free agents want to be LeBron's caddy.'"

The Lakers already missed out on Los Angeles native Paul George. Failing to land James another true superstar this summer would be an epic failure.

They'll be going toe-to-toe with the Clippers in that pursuit, and that means going toe-to-toe with Lakers legend West. It's going to be a fascinating summer in the City of Angels.