Jerry West is open to returning to the front-office world of the NBA.

West may have returned to the league in that capacity had Larry Ellison bought the Warriors. West and Ellison have long been friends and the two did discuss the possibility of the former player helping manage the team.

Joe Lacob and Peter Guber beat Ellison to purchase the Warriors.

"I haven't spoken to him since, but he would have been a great owner and I'm sure the people up there knowing his ability to get things done, it would have been a great thing," West said.

"But, obviously this other group was very, very impressive in their own right, and I'm sure that they'll do a great job up there. That is a franchise that does have a lot of possibilities."

West made it clear, though, that he wants to return to the NBA in a serious role.

"There's things about the NBA I miss," he said. "I do not miss the deceptive part of it. I don't like the negativity part of it; in all sports, we see a lot of that today. That's the only thing I don't like. But all I seem to know in my life is being involved in basketball, a sport I know and love and a sport that has led me to somewhere in my life I never would have dreamed.

"If there were an opportunity that I considered attractive, and obviously working with the right people would be very, very important, I could have an interest. But it wouldn't be on a day-to-day interest. I've always felt it would be nice to be a working consultant. I'm not talking about somebody that just sits around and does nothing. You're either in or you're out."