Until his final days, one of the remarkable lessons Jerry West taught was his pursuit of the present. He had an American life and stories like no one else, but he did not care for nostalgia.
I sent him a text of well-wishes on his 86th birthday in late May. His health had been deteriorating, his time was short. He acknowledged that in his response, and then requested: "Give me some NBA news regarding players leaving or signing elsewhere please...."
Free agency. The draft. Trades. His appetite was insatiable for the next episode in an NBA that he had constructed with his talent and vision and sheer ferocity.