David West could have walked off into the sunset with a ring in his hand and plentiful memories of a dominating 15-1 postseason and call it a career after netting his first NBA championship with the Golden State Warriors this year.
Though to anyone that knows West, this is just not the way he rolls.
The 37-year-old has two All-Star honors to his name and is one of the most respected veterans in the game, but at his age, he still considered potentially retiring at the end of the season.
“You’ve got to think about every year, for these last three or four years,” West said on this week’s Warriors Insider Podcast. “You always think about it. It’s something you’re marching toward. When the season was over, I took time to enjoy what we had done, what we had accomplished.”
While the Warriors' roster was loaded, a team can never have enough leadership, especially coming from a proud two-way player that can do it all through shorts stints on the court.
“I just talked to my family and I just felt like why not?” he said. “We won it. Let’s see what this experience is like defending it.”
As the Warriors made a trip to China this offseason, West took on the chance to speak to tennis great Roger Federer, who still has the burning passion for his profession as he once did as an up-and-coming prospect.
“One of the things that stood out for me that he said is that he still has the fire to compete, and that’s the one thing that’s probably still burning for me,” West said. “You want to compete. You want to face new challenges. When you get older, you have to figure out different ways to be productive and how to deal with younger and more explosive (competitors). That’s a challenge that’s intriguing to me.
“With all of that thrown in, and on top of the fact that this is a great environment to be in — I’m learning every single day — it just felt right to come on back and give it another shot.”
West has been reinvigorated this season, being an integral part of this team, despite only playing 11.5 minutes a night. The Xavier product is the Warriors' fifth leading scorer, second in blocks per game, and second in playing efficiency rating through 13 games off the bench.
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