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David West didn’t want to answer questions about his future in the immediate aftermath of the Warriors’ NBA title earlier this month. However, the veteran big man broached the subject on Uninterrupted’s Open Run podcast posted Thursday.
Retire or return?
“I’m thinking about it. I’m kinda leaning toward playing again,” said West, a free agent as of Friday. “Probably just gonna give it a couple more days or so just to keep running it through my head. But if I do keep playing, it’s gonna be out here. It’s just such a great spot. I really enjoyed the environment, enjoy the guys.”
West, who turns 37 in August, averaged 4.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in 68 regular-season games and added 4.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game during the playoffs.
“Health-wise I feel good,” West said. “It’s just a part of the grind. We ask our bodies and our minds to do a lot, so at this stage, I have to consider it just about every offseason. Think about it, just make the smart decision.”
Which is why he did not want to decide his future right after Golden State captured the championship. Instead, he soaked in the moment.
“Oh my god. It’s been a long journey and it feels great to get here,” West said through happy huffs and puffs following the title-clinching win June 12. “It feels better than I thought it would, in all honesty. It’s not about being the No. 1 or No. 2, or getting all the shots — that stuff’s irrelevant. It’s about winning.”
It’s sounding like West wants to continue winning.
“Coming into these high-caliber environments, it was really the only move that made sense for me in the place that I’m at,” West said on Open Run. “I really don’t have a lot of space for… the ups and downs that come with being in the NBA and being on teams that necessarily don’t have championship aspirations. The NBA, for me at this stage, is only worth it if I can get in those really elite environments, around the elite talent and around the guys that are trying to win every single night.”
