The Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa’s ballroom speaker series will continue Saturday evening with Lakers legend Jerry West speaking in Rancho Mirage.
The conversation, moderated by Desert Sun sports reporter Andrew John, will begin at 8 p.m. in the Rancho Mirage casino’s Cahuilla Ballroom, 32-250 Bob Hope Drive, according to a statement from the casino. Tickets to the event can be purchased at aguacalientecasinos.com.
“He left the game holding records for career postseason scoring and the highest average in a playoff series,” casino officials wrote. “West’s statistical record only begins to tell his story.”
West, 85, played with the Lakers for 14 years, finishing with a career regular-season scoring average of 27 points per game and helping lead the Lakers to the 1971-72 NBA title.
Following two years away from basketball, he became the Lakers’ coach, stayed on as a scout for three years and became the team’s general manager in 1982. He was named NBA Executive of the Year in 1995.
After more than 40 years with the Lakers, West retired but later became the president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-07, again winning the Executive of the Year award for the 2003-04 season. He became an executive with the Golden State Warriors in 2011 before he was hired by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2017 as a consultant.
He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979. West’s silhouette is still used as the official NBA logo.
The casino’s speakers series will continue in July with actress Lisa Rinna, and will be followed each consecutive month excluding November with actress Whitney Cummings, reality television personality Josh Altman, actor Henry Winkler and comedian Adam Corolla.