Title quest spurred West to leave
Chance to play with contender priceless to vet
When the NBA holds its annual rookie transition program in August, no youngster who comes through the league’s New Jersey doors should be able to leave until he hears the story of David West.
In this basketball world where missteps and money problems often lead to lost opportunity and wasted talent, the San Antonio Spurs forward is proof that doing things the right way pays off in the end. Even when it doesn’t.
After 12 seasons, the 35-yearold who had earned two All-Star berths and $87 million in combined salary but had zero championships faced a tough choice: pick up the $12 million player option to play for an Indiana Pacers team that many considered in decline, or take his title pursuit elsewhere while enduring the kind of pay cut most veterans would never consider. He opted for the latter, signing a veteran’s minimum deal with the Spurs that will pay him $1.49 million by season’s end.
But rest assured, West said in a recent chat with USA TODAY Sports, he’s already being paid back in other forms.
“Towards the end of my career, it’s just (about) having options and being able to make decisions based on everything but the fact that I need, need, need money and have to scrape every last dollar out of the NBA,” said West, who has a son and a daughter with his wife, Lesley, and is known as one of the most charitable players in today’s game. “I’m beyond that at this point in my professional and personal life.
“I see guys all the time make decisions based on the money, especially toward the end, just hanging on and trying to make up for mistakes they made earlier. But we’re not in that situation.”
He’s not in that boat because he was smart with his money, because he avoided the traps bas- ketball players often fall into. And because his consistent play, teamfirst personality and revered leadership skills had teams such as the Spurs and the defending champion Golden State Warriors itching to add him during this late stage of his playing days.
“My whole career, I’ve been very strategic about what I’ve done with my money and how we’ve invested,” West said. “The future is very bright, so when it came down to this basketball decision, I was saying, ‘Well, it’s not about money at this point, it’s about finding … a good basketball environment where I might learn and ultimately compete at the very top. These guys (the Spurs) are there every year. The organization, there’s like a mythological lure about them and the way people talk about them.
“I’ve been a Spurs fan my whole life, and having an opportunity and wanting to learn from (Tim) Duncan and Manu (Ginobili) and Tony (Parker) and obviously Coach (Gregg) Popovich and all his knowledge, I just felt like it was a good environment and it was the best environment.”
West has made it clear before that San Antonio’s landing of forward LaMarcus Aldridge during free agency in July sealed his decision. As such, he’s more than happy to join Ginobili as their second sixth man of sorts. It’s a sacrifice of a different kind, however, considering he remains productive enough to play a starting role on most teams (11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists a game last season).
West said he gave serious consideration to joining the Warriors, but the combination of the Spurs’ remarkable track record and their understated ways proved the more comfortable fit. The two sides had shared history, too, as West’s New Orleans Hornets fell to the Spurs in seven games during the 2008 Western Conference semifinals. He was at his best back then, averaging 20.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists while facing off against Duncan.
“I just felt like this was my speed here (in San Antonio), just sort of the way they do things,” West said. “Like I said, being in New Orleans, competing against them, just knowing what the organization was about and what these guys can bring, I just wanted to be a part of it.”
The freedom required to make that choice, however, was something he earned along the way.
“We gave ourselves a shot (in Indiana), four years being there,” said West, who was the Pacers’ resident locker room leader during that time when they reached the Eastern Conference finals twice and semifinals once. “It was time for a changed environment, and obviously looking at my situation, knowing that I had more yesterdays than I do tomorrows, I was just trying to figure out the best situation. ... I loved my time there. It was just time for me to give myself a crack at this.”