West still playing solidly at age 37
David West’s teammates have taken to calling him “Benjamin Button” because, at age 37, he was not only still playing, he got better.
In his second season with Golden State, West averaged more minutes, points, rebounds and blocks than he did in 201617. His shooting clip of 57.1 percent was easily a career best. Hardly considered a prototypical interior defender, West was tied for 37th in the NBA with 1.03 blocks per game. Only two other players among the top 40, Utah center Ekpe Udoh and Dallas center Salah Mejri, averaged fewer than 14 minutes.
West’s defensive real plus-minus — a stat measuring a player’s average impact on his team’s defense by points allowed per 100 offensive possessions — was 3.63, which ranked eighth in the league. For much of the season, he was the Warriors’ most consistent bench player.
Unlike his earlier years, when West banged in the low post and made two All-Star appearances (2008, 2009), he staked his reputation on hitting mid-range jumpers and finding the open man. With a rare blend of size, court awareness, touch and timing, he was the ideal fulcrum for head coach Steve Kerr’s movementheavy system. West regularly posted up on the right block and drew defenses toward him before kicking out to shooters.
It didn’t hurt that West had settled into a regular substitution pattern. Midway through the first quarter, he headed to the locker room to get a sweat in on the stationary bike. That helped ensure that he was ready by the time he entered the game at the start of the second.
But as the season wore on, West was less effective. After missing five games in March with a right arm cyst, he struggled to find a rhythm, averaging just four points per game in April on 41.7 percent shooting.
When Kerr shortened his rotation in the playoffs, West had a tough time getting on the floor. His rugged playing style was suddenly an odd fit against the opponents’ small-ball, versatile lineups. Over 11 games in the Western Conference finals and NBA finals, West only twice topped the 10-minute mark.
Offseason outlook: West, who was the 10tholdest player in the NBA this past season, said after the Warriors’ championship-clinching Game 4 win over the Cavaliers that he will decide
whether to retire this summer. All indications are that Golden State would welcome him back on another minimum deal if he decides to play one more season for a chance at another ring — the goal that brought him to Golden State in the first place.