"We were legit enemies with other guys" - David West talks about why most players didn't want to be friends with each other back in the day

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One of the biggest differences that many former NBA players feel they have compared to this generation is how they approach their competition. Unlike in today’s era, where players prefer to build friendships amongst their peers around the league, former players like David West felt that wasn’t the case back in the day because they weren’t scared to go up against each other.

“It’s hard, especially for guys who had to do that. When I was coming through, we were legit enemies with other guys like we weren’t friends. I didn’t grow up being friends with the guys I was competing against,” West said in his latest appearance on the ‘Forgotten Seasons’ podcast.

“I wasn’t friends with Jameer Nelson in college. I was competing trying to beat Jameer every year in college, so it wasn’t like now or even a few years before I got out of the NBA; a lot of these guys are friends, and they’re friends from childhood, so the competitiveness is not there,” David added.

It has more impact on the game than you think

West and his namesake, Jerry West, share the same sentiment about not understanding why players today like being friendly with each other. “The Logo” once said that he can’t grasp the idea of trying to shake hands with an enemy whose sole purpose is to kill you on the court.

The same goes for David, who feels that players today have become unselfish to the point that it’s affecting their competitiveness on the court.

“Like the shaking of hands or hugging each other after games now, just like regular season games. We weren’t doing that nor were we brought up that way so I think a lot of guys are just being themselves because they’re had the buddy buddy relationship like they’ll go out there, not play defense against each other so they’ll both look good,” D-West added.

The root cause of this

West thinks that this generation approaches the game differently compared to how he did because they don’t have much veteran presence in the locker room. One can only count how many slots in the league are allowed for veteran leaders to mentor upcoming and rising players.

West said that wasn’t the case during his time when players were so focused on their image on and off the court to the point that motivated them to beat their peers. There are certainly pros and cons to befriending an opponent, but as West exclaimed, one can’t deny that it affects a player’s competitive drive and performance on the court.