The dynamic between Jeanie Buss and Jerry West has been shaky at least since back when Phil Jackson started dating Jeanie, all the while presiding over the team as coach. West believed the situation to be unprofessional, and beyond that, distrusted Jackson as a cynical actor. According to sources, the West perspective was a protective one: He believed that Phil was using Jeanie, whom he’d known since she was a teenager, for his own power play. Whatever his intent, West’s judgments were not taken well, and have likely informed a separation that only grows more distant with time.