James Worthy Mourns Jerry West's Death, 'I'll Miss The Guy'

Lakers legend James Worthy says he's heartbroken over Jerry West's death ... telling TMZ Sports he's going to miss his good friend dearly.

Worthy -- who West actually selected with the first pick of the 1982 NBA Draft when he was LA's general manager -- spoke with us just hours after Jerry's passing on Wednesday ... and reflected on his time with the Hall of Famer fondly.

James said he learned of the news at a place Jerry loved -- a golf course -- and initially, his heart hurt. But he said moments later, the memory bank of his time with West kicked into high gear.

"The faith that he had in me. He created my career and really jumpstarted [it]," Worthy said. "He had told my college coach, Dean Smith, that he was very interested in me. Over guys like Ralph Sampson, Dominique Wilkins, and Terry Cummings. He had a foresight of seeing things before they happened."

One of the things West was able to see coming was Kobe Bryant. Worthy said while other teams wanted Bryant to spend two-to-three years in college ... West had to have him as soon as he was eligible -- a move that proved to be a smart one, to say the least.

A 14-time NBA All-Star as a player ... West achieved success both on the court as a player -- and off the court as a front office member. He helped build the Lakers dynasty in the 80s -- also known as the "Showtime" Lakers -- of which Worthy was a member. Worthy said what made him so good was his ability to see through people.

"You couldn't bulls*** with Jerry," Worthy said. "He was brutally honest, he would look you right in the eye and tell you all the things you didn't want to hear."

Worthy said he talked with Jerry about a month ago about getting together and grabbing dinner. James knew the 86-year-old had some health issues and thought he was working through them ... but that sometimes "it's the unknowns we don't know about."

West is one of the few players to transition to a coaching/front office role and have the success he did. While Worthy revealed Jerry hated coaching ... he noted Jerry's ability to build a team was unlike any other.

"Very innovative in rulemaking and how the game was shaped over time," he said. "You're talking about a guy who played in the 60s, GM'd in the 80s, then made that transfer into the millennium players and still standing at 86. I don't know anybody that's ever done that."