Jerry West takes no credit for bringing two of his favorite people together. West, the omnipresent symbol of the N.B.A., offered encouragement and, typically, spoke honestly.

When Rod Thorn, his close friend from West Virginia, called as he weighed leaving his job as senior vice president of the N.B.A. for the Nets, West told Thorn it was time.

Sixteen years had passed since Thorn drafted Michael Jordan as general manager of the Chicago Bulls. Thorn had built his reputation as the personable disciplinarian of the N.B.A. for 14 years. But he needed to compete again.

When Thorn became the Nets' president in the late spring of 2000, he needed to hire a coach, and he called West for a profile of Byron Scott, Thorn's top candidate. Scott, too, placed a call to West about Thorn.