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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 22, 2017

David West

Oakland, California

Q. As you've seen, since you guys have won, a lot seems to be surrounding your team, always something happening, something in the news. What's it going to take to keep the team together and not let that stuff penetrate the chemistry?
DAVID WEST: We just focus on what we can control, try not to listen to the outside noise, keep ourselves incubated. We dealt with a lot of it last year.

We know it's going to be ramped up and revved up more. We need to make sure we can control what we can focus on and handle and control.

Q. One of your key roles, is that one of the reasons you have a presence in this locker room?
DAVID WEST: I don't know. It's just a matter of maturity. Just understanding what's going to come at you, figuring out ways to deal with it.

Q. Was it either here or retirement; and if so, how close were you to learning towards retirement?
DAVID WEST: It was basically that. But it was a couple of -- probably a couple of weeks after. I just was thinking about it and I had a few good conversations with some people. And I just felt like giving it another shot.

I felt good. I enjoyed the run. It was an unbelievable experience. And I enjoy being in this group, being part of this group and the organization.

So why not?

Q. You probably had one of the best speeches after that Game 5 win. How long did that stick with you?
DAVID WEST: I was buzzing for a good two, three weeks, man. I think everybody enjoys things, feels a certain way about winning or accomplishments differently.

For me, I'm all about the experience. And it made me better. It gave me a better perspective. Made me a better human.

Q. It's not every championship team that can stay together. With so many guys back, what does that say about not only you guys as a team and the camaraderie, but also Bob Myers trying to make this work with everybody?
DAVID WEST: I think this is one of the -- this is a great basketball environment to be in. And I think when you've been in the NBA for a lot of years, you don't experience this sort of environment.

It's not so much about the talent. It's literally the energy that's here and the ease and comfort that exists here and the willingness to want to come in and work every day and continue to get better. That's unique. I think that's what everybody sees and feels, particularly for a few of us who have been other places and know that it's very rare to have an environment like this coupled with the success in the NBA.

Q. Can you tell us something that Andre provides you guys that everybody may not know and how important was it for you that they had re-signed him?
DAVID WEST: His versatility obviously is a great asset to this group. His ability to basically play all five positions and be an elite defender, but his whit.

He keeps everybody on edge in terms of accountability and just what the approach is going to be. I enjoyed playing with him last year. It was a good opportunity for me to see him up close, somebody that I've competed against for a lot of years around the league.

Q. As a veteran who took a lot of your career to get to the championship, what have you instilled in Patrick McCaw as a rookie who got there in his first year about the gravity of what he accomplished?
DAVID WEST: Obviously it's not guaranteed that it will happen. I think there are guys who have experienced a lot of success early on, and then teams change and systems change. And so my thing with Pat was just take advantage of it. Relish the moment.

Obviously he's got a bright future. Super talented kid. Super humble kid. So that's it -- maintain that humility. Always be coachable. The basics.

Q. Is this officially your final season in the NBA?
DAVID WEST: I haven't really made that choice. I don't know. These last, I guess, three or four years have just been however I feel. If I feel like I can still go, still be effective, maybe yes, maybe no.

I'm just enjoying the ride. Man, I've got a lot of freedom, you know what I mean? I'm not confined by a lot of the things other folks are confined by.

It's just a matter of how I feel. If my emotion is there, if my mind is still able to get through a season, then who knows?

Q. We've asked a lot of guys who have come up here going to the White House and celebrating the championship. You've made your views pretty well known. Where do you come down on it, and if you guys didn't go, what kind of statement do you think that would make?
DAVID WEST: Coach is going to handle that. I think -- we're going to talk about it. We're going to discuss it as a group. That's pretty much it. Whatever. It's whatever. I'm going to be good up here, so it's whatever.

Q. In that discussion that everyone's talked about that you guys are going to have, will you be a forceful voice?
DAVID WEST: I'll let everybody know my opinion.

Q. How have the last couple of years in terms of -- you were obviously a big-minute guy for a long time. The last year you played eight to ten minutes a game. Is that kind of a managed workload, especially over the course of the long season, may have allowed you to play longer than you originally thought given that you can come in, do a little bit and hang out?
DAVID WEST: It's been an adjustment. But it's something that I never fought. I kind of made this decision myself. I took myself out of the whole starting ideology and even last year there were a few teams that were still trying to throw that at me.

I'm like, bro, that's dead in the water. So it's just more about being comfortable, learning as much as I can, being in environments like this that are stimulating me, keeping me interested, keeping me on my toes and having something to go after and play for every night.

Q. After you guys won the championship, I asked you how you felt. You didn't have any words at that time. But you had mentioned that you were bugging. What word would you use now, now that the fog has cleared? And secondly, are you prepared for ring night, because you may bug out again?
DAVID WEST: I'm definitely ready for ring night. But I just feel it's like it's an accomplishment. Sometimes people kind of short-side the sacrifice and the commitment that athletes make.

A lot of us have been playing this game longer than we've been doing anything else. Some of us will be professional athletes longer than we were anything else.

So a lot of that, a lot of us cry only on basketball. There are many guys in the NBA that won't cry for a death in the family, but something in sports will get them emotionally caught up.

That's how invested we are in this physically and mentally. So winning obviously is a great achievement, great accomplishment. And it's something that internally does something for you that a physical reward doesn't necessarily bring.

So the ring is physical; but the accomplishment of winning, knowing that you won is something that feeds us differently, particularly when we've done this all of our lives.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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