Pacers Celebrate David West’s 46th Birthday After Memorable Four-Year Run

David West turned 46 on Saturday. The Indiana Pacers posted a birthday message for the former forward on X.

Half an hour before that, the same account posted one for Darnell Hillman. Hillman turned 77 the same day. He played six seasons for the Pacers and won two ABA championships with them.

West was born on Aug. 29, 1980, in Teaneck, New Jersey. He attended Garner Magnet High School in North Carolina and Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, earning first-team all-state honors during his senior year at Hargrave in 1998-99.

West at Xavier made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team as a freshman, leading with 9.1 rebounds per game. He won Atlantic 10 Player of the Year three times (2001-2003) and Defensive Player of the Year in his junior year. In 2003, the AP and USBWA named him national player of the year, and he also won the Oscar Robertson Trophy and Pete Newell Big Man Award, becoming a consensus first-team All-American. Xavier retired his No. 30.

The New Orleans Hornets picked West 18th in the 2003 draft. He played eight seasons, averaging 16.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists over 530 games. An All-Star in 2008 and 2009, he scored a career-high 44 points against Houston on Dec. 30, 2009.

On March 25, 2011, West tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against the Utah Jazz with 22.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. He opted out of the final year of his contract on June 27.

West signed a two-year, $20 million deal with Indiana on December 13, 2011. During four seasons with the Pacers, he started all 285 games he played, averaging 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting 48.7% from the field. In Indiana, he accumulated 3,979 points, 1,987 rebounds, and 799 assists.

On April 21, 2012, West scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 109-106 overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. His only career triple-double happened on January 12, 2013, in a 96-88 win over the Charlotte Bobcats, when he had 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.

His peak season with Indiana was 2012-13, where he averaged 17.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists over 73 games. The Pacers made it to the Eastern Conference finals that spring and again in 2014, losing both times to the Miami Heat. West started all 49 playoff games for Indiana, with averages of 15.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists.

Indiana re-signed West to a three-year, $36.6 million contract on July 10, 2013. He opted out of the deal in June 2015.

The San Antonio Spurs signed West on July 17, 2015. He moved to the Golden State Warriors on July 9, 2016, and won championships there in 2017 and 2018. On Jan. 8, 2018, in a 124-114 win over the Denver Nuggets, West became the 127th player to appear in 1,000 NBA regular season games. He had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Over 15 seasons, West played in 1,034 games and started 742. He averaged 13.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game, with shooting rates of 49.5% from the field and 81.7% at the free-throw line. His career totals are 14,034 points, 6,590 rebounds, and 2,273 assists.

West announced his retirement on Aug. 30, 2018, one day after his 38th birthday. That November, he became the first chief operating officer of the Historical Basketball League, a college basketball venture that later renamed itself the Professional Collegiate League.

Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac will start in Indiana's frontcourt this season. The Pacers signed Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. in free agency this summer and acquired Zubac in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. Tyrese Haliburton returns after missing all of 2025-26 with a torn Achilles. Indiana's season opener is Oct. 21 in New Orleans.