Former player David West, two-time NBA champion with Golden State Warriors (2017 and 2018), has acknowledged in recent statements collected by the media SLAM that both Chris Bosh and his former teammate Andrea Bargnani would have very different careers in the current competition.
Bargnani, number 1 of the 2006 Draft, is considered one of the great failures of the last decades. Despite averaging 15.2 points per game in seven seasons with the Canadians, and scoring more than four triples per game in two consecutive seasons, his performance has never translated into victories. Since their transfer to the Knicks in 2013, the Toronto Raptors have achieved playoff qualification for seven consecutive years, in addition to becoming champions for the first time in their history in 2019.
“The only reason Bargnani didn’t have a successful career was because the referees allowed people like me to hit them,” acknowledged David West. “In today’s game he would be causing real problems because the referees would protect him,” he added.
From 2006 until then, the NBA game has undergone a constant evolution, especially at the level of rhythm, outside shots and the transformation of the ‘lifelong centers’ into open shooters. And that’s where West’s reasoning would come in. The 2006 Andrea Bargnani currently playing open five, see the Golden State Warriors or the ‘ultra-small’ Houston Rockets, to name several examples.
“Bosh and Bargnani were inner men at a time when they were still expected to fight in the painting,” he explained. “At this point they would blow up the NBA. They were almost impossible to defend. I’m serious about it, ”West said.
Andrea Bargnani hung up his boots in 2017 after a season at Baskonia in the ACB League. For his part, Chris Bosh had a more complicated end of the race due to physical problems that forced him to retire.
Bosh, two-time NBA winner with Miami Heat and 11 times All-Star, he has had averages of 19.2 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 35.8 minutes of play in 893 official games.
For his part, the Italian completed 550 regular season games with figures of 14.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 35.4% in triples in 28.7 minutes.
(Cover photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)
