First he apologized back in 2003 and second Jerry West said it in the Heat of the moment literally right after losing in the Finals to Celtics in 1969 and it was a heat of the moment comment that reflected badly on both Wilt and West.
In those same 2003 comments he talks about how both Russell and Wilt were good and forced adjustments.
This is all from the article, but he doesn’t assert who was better after apologizing, he just realized he’d been a jackass.
second Jerry West said it in the heat of the moment literally right after losing in the Finals to Celtics in 1969 and it reflected badly on both Wilt and West.
Did he? I was always under the impression that he said it at the Finals MVP Award Banquet, which was like three days after the series concluded.
I feel like people should read the article.
First he apologized back in 2003 and second Jerry West said it in the Heat of the moment literally right after losing in the Finals to Celtics in 1969 and it was a heat of the moment comment that reflected badly on both Wilt and West.
In those same 2003 comments he talks about how both Russell and Wilt were good and forced adjustments.
This is all from the article, but he doesn’t assert who was better after apologizing, he just realized he’d been a jackass.
Did he? I was always under the impression that he said it at the Finals MVP Award Banquet, which was like three days after the series concluded.
EDIT: Yep, looks like my memory was correct - here is the quote in an AP newspaper article from May 9, 1969: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P_JNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pYoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7256,969871