David West Speaks To Juveniles at Indiana Correctional Facility

David West wants to be a force of change, and he wishes other NBA players would follow his lead.

He continues to be a man or words and actions as he took time recently to speak at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility. Pacers.com’s Mark Montieth detailed the visit and how West looks to make an impact to the young men he spoke to.

"“Nobody takes the time to encourage them and meet them where they are,” he said.West does. Rather than viewing them as “bad kids” who need to be locked away from the rest of society, he sees them as young men who have grown up in difficult circumstances, haven’t been taught how to deal with challenges and perhaps made just one bad mistake. He has friends and relatives, and even a college teammate, who have spent time in prisons, so he knows how perilous the journey can be for some. But he also can recall a few friends who were headed down a bad road, but were saved because someone stepped in to make a difference.He’s a fan of stepping in, or, as he puts it, “butting in.” He might not have played basketball beyond his freshman year in high school if someone hadn’t butted in to his world and convinced him to join the team after his family moved to North Carolina for his sophomore year. His season on the junior varsity at his previous school in New Jersey had not gone well, and being in a new town where nobody knew him afforded an easy opportunity to quit the game anonymously. But, a coach who was curious about the new tall kid in school pulled him into the hallway and practically ordered him into the gymnasium."

Since his time at Xavier, West has spoken to people he felt have had rough starts to life and just need someone “butting in” to get them back on track and pointed in the right direction.

West also added these sentiments.

"“I don’t know what everybody’s circumstance is, but I know words have a lot of power,” he said while driving to Pendleton. “Just a gesture. I don’t have to come out here, but I feel like it’s worth it, just to let them know not everybody has written them off. Just because you made a mistake as a 14-year-old, you don’t have to be confined here for the rest of your life.”"

And while he believes these kids deserve another chance, he also preaches accountability and taking responsibility for changing your own life.

"West spoke quietly and firmly. He had prepared notes inside a folder, but spoke mostly from memory. His message was hopeful, yet realistic. They needed to start valuing their life, he said. Clearly they hadn’t been doing that, or they wouldn’t have made the decisions that led them to prison. They needed to change their direction by changing their thought process.“The first thing is to be excuse-free,” he said. “Don’t make excuses. Decide right here, right now there are no more excuses for me.“It’s hard, because you have to work at responsibility. You have to work at accountability. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you.”"

Charles Barkley wasn’t entirely wrong when he said players shouldn’t be role models, but more players should take advantage of their ability to influence others and make a positive impact on the world around them.

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