CLEAN BREAK IS FOR THE BEST.

Byline: Kevin Modesti

Jerry West excelled at what coaches so colorlessly call ``making good decisions.'' He always knew what to do with a basketball. Later, in his desk job, he always knew what to do with a basketball roster and salary cap.

Now he must decide what to do with himself.

Monday's announcement that the 62-year-old West is stepping down as the Lakers' executive vice president - to take at least a year away from the sport - leaves him and the franchise in limbo.

To fans and sentimentalists, this might sound like a good thing, allowing a glimmer of hope that the architect of four NBA-championship-winning Lakers teams will eventually return to his drafting board.

Better, though, would be a clean and permanent break from the team. Better for West. Better for the Lakers.

They have been in limbo, actually, since mid-July. That's when West left for his Alaska fishing vacation amid reports he told friends he was retiring. Of course, reports of his retirement have been greatly exaggerated in several recent summers. So everybody waited for three weeks for West and the Lakers to make it official, as they did on Monday.

It's a measure of West's importance to the Lakers - of his godlike stature in Los Angeles and the basketball world - that Lakers owner Jerry Buss allowed him to wring his hands and leave the franchise hanging for so long.

But look at it another way.

That Buss allowed him so long to make up his mind, to abandon his office until he's made up his mind, at the precise time of year when NBA teams are deciding what to do about free agents, is a measure of the organization's ability to function without him.

If West has been looking for the perfect time to depart, he has found it.

--Head coach Phil Jackson is here now to fill the celebrity-suit role for the Lakers.

West succeeded as a player-personnel chief not only because he could spot talent and knew how to fit a dozen human pieces together. He succeeded in part because he was Jerry West, Mr. Clutch, Hall of Famer. The more championships he won as an executive, the more great players wanted to work for him.

Now, after coaching the Lakers to the NBA title in his first year with them, Jackson is the star magnet.

--Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has served a 13-year apprenticeship and is ready to take the lead on player personnel.

Kupchak has been wooed by a series of NBA rivals over the years but remained with the Lakers because he anticipated this opportunity. It's time he is rewarded - before his patience runs out.

--The decisions that turned the Lakers into champions again have been made - and will stay made for a long time.

Jackson is under contract for six more seasons. Shaquille O'Neal is signed for three more, Kobe Bryant for five more. With that trio, the Lakers are head, shoulders and beard above every other franchise.

Staying there is a matter of filling in the lineup around O'Neal and Bryant. West can leave that to Kupchak and newly appointed assistant GM Kurt Rambis. Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; he didn't stick around and grout the bathrooms.

--West, by leaving open the possibility of a return, creates uncertainty and distraction for a team that proved last season how helpful it is to have neither.

Kupchak will face enough pressure. Every move he makes will be measured against WWJD - What Would Jerry Do? Kupchak shouldn't have to deal with constant questions about whether he is merely the interim boss.

--West's refusal to attend the NBA Finals is the ultimate sign his battle with anxiety is lost. He should walk away while he can. Retirement will be good for West.

The announcement that West is leaving his Lakers office is cause not to mourn but to celebrate. He leaves the Lakers in great shape. He can do himself and the franchise another favor by making the departure permanent.