Ranking all of Steph’s teammates: #12 — David West

During his time with the Golden State Warriors, Steph Curry has had 106 teammates who have appeared in at least one game. Some played in exactly one game, while others played in hundreds. Some never actually played in a game that Curry was active for, while others formed historically great partnerships with him.

And I’m ranking all 106 of them before a new season starts and he adds to the tally. Better get a move on.

Players are ranked — and stats are shown — based only on their time as Curry’s teammate. How good/bad they were in other organizations doesn’t matter. How good/bad they were on pre-2009-10 Warriors teams doesn’t matter.

#12 — David West

Games: 141 (18th out of 106)
Points per game: 5.8 (48th out of 106)
Rebounds per game: 3.1 (T-48th out of 106)
Assists per game: 2.0 (T-29th out of 106)

What is there to say about David West? He was absolutely everything you could want out of a role player on a championship team.

He was one of the toughest players in the league. He was comfortable playing heavy minutes or riding the bench. He was ready to go whenever his number was called. He was a savvy defender who seemed to always be in the right spot, and a sneakily good scorer with a smooth jumper. He feels like a vital part of two championship teams, even though he didn’t start a single game for the Warriors.

His numbers were never special, though he always graded out as a very, very strong defensive player. But dang if he didn’t feel utterly necessary to the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Warriors teams, and I can’t recall a single moment where he felt out of position or making the wrong play.

He was a tremendous Warrior, capable of locking down traditional 4s and 5s, and stretch big men. His elbow jumper was automatic. His passes from high above his head were majestic. His leadership was almost unmatched.

David West, folks.

With fewer than 30 players left, I’m going to start listing the remaining names in alphabetic order, to help out with determining whether someone is properly ranked. Here they are:

Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Kevin Durant, Monta Ellis, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, David Lee, Kevon Looney, D’Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins