Inside the Hornets: David West’s NBA Superlatives
Hornets power forward David West has experienced a banner 2005-06 campaign, one in which he’s developed into the team’s leading scorer and a primary candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. The Xavier (Ohio) graduate has also provided the Hornets with three of the most memorable moments from this season –game-winning shots against Houston, Milwaukee and Washington. West sat down with Hornets.com’s Jim Eichenhofer at Thursday’s practice to provide his NBA Superlatives in the latest edition of Inside the Hornets.
Most memorable moment in the NBA: “During my rookie year, we played the Lakers for the first time and I realized I was standing between Kobe, Karl Malone and Shaq, and I think Gary Payton was nearby. That was crazy. I was in awe of being out there.”
Most embarrassing moment in the NBA: “When I was a rookie, I went to check into a game, and I realized I didn’t have my jersey on underneath my warmups. I ran back into the locker room to get it. The guys on the team gave me some heat about that for a few days [West laughs].”
Most surprising thing about the NBA as a rookie: “The pace that the game is played at. A lot of people don’t think it’s that tough, but the adjustment from college is hard, because there are shorter possessions (in the NBA) and you’re changing ends of the floor a whole bunch more times per game.”
Most underrated non-Hornets players in the NBA: Lamar Odom, Gilbert Arenas. “I say Lamar Odom because some people talk about the Lakers as if Kobe Bryant plays by himself, but Lamar Odom is a talent. In my opinion, Arenas was the best player we played against all season. For him to not be put on the (initial) All-Star team was hard to believe. He’s a freak. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves.”
Toughest player to face at his position: “You don’t want to disrespect anybody by leaving them off, but I’d put Dirk Nowitzki up there. He’s tough. Tim Duncan, Jermaine O’Neal is tough. There are a lot of ‘hard guards’ out there (at power forward).”
Favorite road arena to play in: Miami. “You just get a good feeling playing there. I also like the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Surprisingly, I like playing Boston, too. It’s one of those places where you get a ‘beginnings-of-basketball’ kind of feeling, because they have all of the (championship) banners hanging in the arena.”
Favorite road trip based on the city: Miami, Los Angeles. “Usually the West Coast trips are nice, because you’re going to nice places like Phoenix, L.A. and Sacramento.”
Best trash-talker in the NBA: Gary Payton. “Nobody is even close to Gary Payton. Nobody. He talks even if you’re not at his position. He’ll check into the game talking trash. Besides him, Rasheed Wallace and Damon Jones talk a lot.”
Change he’d make if he were NBA commissioner: “I’d shorten the amount of games. Even though I know the old-school guys would be upset about me saying this, there is a lot more size and a lot more talent in the NBA now (which takes a bigger physical toll on players). There are games where guys are really tired from playing back-to-back games and it affects the quality of play. I’d try to make it between 50 to 60 games.
“I remember one of the coaches told me when I was a rookie that every team is going to have eight to 10 games a season where you don’t have your legs and mentally you’re fatigued. We played the Lakers early that year and beat them by a lot, a night after the Lakers played a double-overtime game at San Antonio. They were really tired, and so the game wasn’t even close.”
Most memorable moment in the NBA: “During my rookie year, we played the Lakers for the first time and I realized I was standing between Kobe, Karl Malone and Shaq, and I think Gary Payton was nearby. That was crazy. I was in awe of being out there.”
Most embarrassing moment in the NBA: “When I was a rookie, I went to check into a game, and I realized I didn’t have my jersey on underneath my warmups. I ran back into the locker room to get it. The guys on the team gave me some heat about that for a few days [West laughs].”
Most surprising thing about the NBA as a rookie: “The pace that the game is played at. A lot of people don’t think it’s that tough, but the adjustment from college is hard, because there are shorter possessions (in the NBA) and you’re changing ends of the floor a whole bunch more times per game.”
Most underrated non-Hornets players in the NBA: Lamar Odom, Gilbert Arenas. “I say Lamar Odom because some people talk about the Lakers as if Kobe Bryant plays by himself, but Lamar Odom is a talent. In my opinion, Arenas was the best player we played against all season. For him to not be put on the (initial) All-Star team was hard to believe. He’s a freak. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves.”
Toughest player to face at his position: “You don’t want to disrespect anybody by leaving them off, but I’d put Dirk Nowitzki up there. He’s tough. Tim Duncan, Jermaine O’Neal is tough. There are a lot of ‘hard guards’ out there (at power forward).”
Favorite road arena to play in: Miami. “You just get a good feeling playing there. I also like the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Surprisingly, I like playing Boston, too. It’s one of those places where you get a ‘beginnings-of-basketball’ kind of feeling, because they have all of the (championship) banners hanging in the arena.”
Favorite road trip based on the city: Miami, Los Angeles. “Usually the West Coast trips are nice, because you’re going to nice places like Phoenix, L.A. and Sacramento.”
Best trash-talker in the NBA: Gary Payton. “Nobody is even close to Gary Payton. Nobody. He talks even if you’re not at his position. He’ll check into the game talking trash. Besides him, Rasheed Wallace and Damon Jones talk a lot.”
Change he’d make if he were NBA commissioner: “I’d shorten the amount of games. Even though I know the old-school guys would be upset about me saying this, there is a lot more size and a lot more talent in the NBA now (which takes a bigger physical toll on players). There are games where guys are really tired from playing back-to-back games and it affects the quality of play. I’d try to make it between 50 to 60 games.
“I remember one of the coaches told me when I was a rookie that every team is going to have eight to 10 games a season where you don’t have your legs and mentally you’re fatigued. We played the Lakers early that year and beat them by a lot, a night after the Lakers played a double-overtime game at San Antonio. They were really tired, and so the game wasn’t even close.”
