FOR WEST, THIS'LL BE IT LAKERS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN MONDAY.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Call it retirement, semiretirement or a sabbatical. Whatever it is, Jerry West will make it official next week.

West, the Lakers' head of basketball operations for 18 years - and the embodiment of the franchise for four decades - will step down as executive vice president at a Monday press conference, a team source told the Daily News.

Under an agreement reached with team owner Jerry Buss, West will be retained as a consultant. But he has already cleaned out his office at the team's El Segundo headquarters and is expected to take at least a year off. He does not intend to work even part time during that year.

Mitch Kupchak, West's understudy for the past 14 years, will be elevated to the team's top basketball operations post but will retain his current title as general manager.

In a related move, the team will name Kurt Rambis as assistant general manager. Rambis, a former Lakers forward and assistant coach, has been working as a consultant to Buss for the past year. He served as interim head coach for most of the lockout-shortened 1999 season.

West and other Lakers officials were unavailable for immediate comment Thursday.

What role West will play after his ``retirement'' is unclear. As a consultant, he presumably will periodically advise on player-personnel matters while trying to keep a safe distance from the daily rigors of his former stressful job.

But those who know him well say West will have difficulty staying away and they would not be surprised if he wants to return after a year or even sooner. Sources say Buss, out of loyalty, is leaving the door open for West's return.

The decision to step down comes as no surprise. The notoriously overwrought West has been flirting with retirement each offseason for several years and has often told confidantes that he was ready to walk away. Each time, however, he's decided to stay on, and in 1998 that decision was made easier by a new, $3.5 million-a-year contract from Buss.

But the daily stresses of the job continue to gnaw at the 62-year-old Hall of Famer. He skipped most of the Lakers' playoff games, didn't watch a single minute of the NBA Finals and was absent in June when they held their first championship parade in 12 years.

An irregular heartbeat, linked to stress, also has troubled West and one friend recently described him as ``sick, mentally and physically.'' He showed no outward joy when the Lakers won the championship and said he took no particular satisfaction in the moment.

The decision to retire was made nearly two months ago, but West has refused to confirm it publicly.

Although West won't be cutting ties entirely, his decision marks the end of a long, storied era of Lakers history.

He was a rookie guard for the Lakers in 1960 when they moved to L.A. from Minneapolis and was a key member of the team's first championship here, in 1972.

West was a consultant when the Lakers won titles in 1980 and `82 and general manager of the ``Showtime'' teams that won championships in 1985,`87 and `88.

And he is the architect of the current defending champions, having made a series of shrewd, risky moves in the summer of 1996 to acquire superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

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Photo: (color) JERRY WEST

The Lakers' head of basketball operations for 18 years is expected to be retained as a consultant.