This LeBron-Kobe story on espn.com is interesting enough, and was written in a way that is appropriate for generic sports/basketball fans.

Jerry West, The Logo, the greatest Laker of them all, the Hall-of-Famer, coach and front-office architect of the Showtime Lakers as well as the Shaq-Kobe Lakers, was quoted as saying he believes LeBron James now is a better player than is Kobe Bryant.

That’s a pretty good story right there, West giving his vote to LeBron — when West was the guy who traded Vlade Divac for that kid named Kobe, on draft day back in 1996, and was Kobe’s confidant for years thereafter. (And might still be.)

But what struck me, and deserves amplification in the Los Angeles market is a sentence that rates as almost a throw-away line at the bottom of the story. And here it is:

West, 70, was in Washington attending a conference for atrial fibrillation, a condition he has that can cause a racing heart, sleeplessness, anxiety and depression.

And a second line, amplifying the first.

The condition, diagnosed at age 42, forced him to leave the front office of the Lakers and then the Grizzlies in 2007.

Maybe the rest of you already knew about this, or had seen it somewhere else, but this is news to me, and this why I’m posting it here.

After a couple of decades of reporters noting and wondering in print about West’s “odd” detachment from the Lakers at moments of crisis — often choosing not to watch games in person, sometimes not even being in the arena as games were going on, often retreating into reclusiveness, seeming to take little or no observable pleasure from his considerable accomplishments — and talking constantly about stepping down before he, in fact, did … well, now we know why.

He had this condition which, apparently, stressed him beyond the usual crushing loads of stress that fall on the shoulders of those in positions of authority. And, perhaps, even multiplied in the cases of those, like Jerry West, who appear to be perfectionists.

This explains a lot. I hope West gets help with his condition, and some relief from it. And I would say that even if he had never been my favorite Laker — player and executive.