The first time Mitch Kupchak was mentioned for one of the most glamorous jobs in sports, general manager of the Lakers, he was standing at a urinal.
An All-American at North Carolina who became a starting power forward for the Showtime-era Lakers, Kupchak's career was cut short after an injury in 1981 that shattered his left knee. After a limited comeback, Kupchak agreed to move over to the front office in 1986 to serve an apprenticeship under then-general manager Jerry West.
"About the second week I was there, I'm standing in the bathroom at the Forum . . . when the door flies open and Jerry walks in, face red, smoke shooting out of his ears, every other word a four-letter word," Kupchak recalled recently. "He's ranting and raving, talking to me, but not really talking to me even though there's nobody else in there. I'm petrified.
" 'You know, I've had enough. I'm telling Dr. [Jerry] Buss I'm quitting and I'm recommending you for the job.' And then he walked out," Kupchak recalled West saying. "I'm still . . . staring straight ahead at the wall, saying to myself, 'I don't know if I'm ready for this job.' "
Kupchak need not have worried. West wasn't going anywhere for 14 years, although he would periodically threaten to bolt as his job anxiety continued to rise.
When West finally stepped aside in 2000, Kupchak felt he was qualified to take the reins from the front-office legend. Others weren't so sure. There was a perception that West continued to pull the strings, first as a Lakers consultant, then from the golf course in retirement, and even, went the uninformed chatter, from Memphis after West went there in 2002 to revive the Grizzlies.
"That perception is so grossly unfair," said West, once again retired. "Mitch is his own man."
West left a smoothly running dynasty that initially required Kupchak to do little more than add a few role players as the team went on to complete a three-year title run.
Then came some heavy lifting. Karl Malone and Gary Payton came and went, Shaquille O'Neal was traded, and Kobe Bryant, apparently horrified at the prospect of wasting his prime years on a not-ready-for-prime-time team, began to question the front office, quietly at first and then very publicly.
There was the 2005 trade of Caron Butler to Washington. "My best friend gets shipped out without me knowing," Bryant said. It didn't help that Kwame Brown, who came west in exchange, was a bust.
