Upon entering the NBA in 2003-‘04, David West set himself a goal of playing 10 seasons. He’s now about to embark on a 12th campaign, and West wonders how much longer he’ll last in the game.
The tough, bruising forward has career averages of 15.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and has been selected for two All-Star games.
David West says Paul George’s horrific injury this summer, which dimmed the Indiana Pacers’ prospects for the season, added even more doubt about the time he has left in the L.
Per the Indy Star:
Still, as West high-knees it up and down the court, he can see the light at the end of the tunnel shining brighter and brighter. […] “Oh, yeah. Absolutely. You know, that’s a part of it. You’ve got to be prepared for that. I was already close to retiring a couple years ago,” West said after practice Tuesday. “I was telling guys then, if we had won the championship (in 2013), I probably would have walked away.”
“At that moment (George’s devastating leg injury), the light went out,” West said. “Even with Lance (Stephenson) gone … before he gets hurt, I’m like, Paul’s really going to have a chance to grow. So the light was still there. We’ll just ride with Paul and see what happens. When he got hurt, I was sorta like ‘damn!'” […] “What we were looking for, obviously what our goals were as a group the last couple years, the light just went out on that,” West continued. “I wouldn’t necessarily say I was (declaring) I’m not going to play, but I definitely think about it. Like I said, I don’t have a lot of time left in this league. I’m just one of those guys that just never intended to play a long time.”
“I’ll focus on the work that we have, the task that we have here and the thing, we have to do here to get ourselves rolling and get ourselves in a good position. See what types of groups we can put on the floor, particularly early, and see what sort of team we are. We’ve got to develop an identity,” West said. “Again, it’s just a part of it. I don’t think anybody’s backing away from it. We’ve got to face what our reality is.”
