Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

In their first practice Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers ran a series of one-man, full-court fast breaks. It's the cruelty of training camp, commanded to sprint near the end of the early afternoon session, already after an hour or so of depositing sweat on the Bankers Life Fieldhouse hardwood. However, the exercise serves a function.

"Get your summer legs out of you!" coach Frank Vogel shouts to his players."Summertime's over. Got to get your season legs under you."

David West grits his teeth and growls as he gallops less like a gazelle these days, but more like a rhino. He's 34 years old now, and he has done the math.

When he was younger, West marked a career goal of playing 10 years in the league. This is his 12th NBA training camp. Call it overtime in a career that has produced 15.9-point scoring and 7.2 rebounding averages, two All-Star appearances and a deserved reputation as one of the last true tough guys in the league.

Still, as West high-knees it up and down the court, he can see the light at the end of the tunnel shining brighter and brighter.

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely. You know, that's a part of it. You've got to be prepared for that. I was already close to retiring a couple years ago," West said after practice. "I was telling guys then, if we had won the championship (in 2013), I probably would have walked away."

There are times when West sounds reflective, the way a gray beard does at the end of his climb.

"I think about it now. I was thinking about it yesterday some, I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish," West said. "Proud of what we were able to do when I got here, sort of change the direction of this group and help these young guys."

But in those other moments, West comes across as realistic, the way a willing challenger considers – in the all-important future tense – the obstacles ahead.

"It'll be one of those years where the older you get, the more you'll have to listen to your body," West said, and offered this assessment on the upcoming Pacers' season: "It's a whole new ball game. We've got to trust Frank. We've got to trust the system. Trust what they're going to teach us and as guys, we've got to buy in. As players, we have to go out and commit ourselves to doing exactly what we talk about doing in our preparation."

When the team gathered for media day on Monday, West was candid about the Pacers' future, the one shaped by a shattered bone.

On Aug. 1, West was alone in a room and watched as the championship window slammed shut. His most talented teammate, Paul George, was on the floor, downed during a meaningless exhibition game for USA Basketball. When West finally peeled away from the television, his wife had gathered from his blank expression that something had happened.

"I'm like, 'Turn on the TV,'" West said to his wife. "'Paul just broke his leg.'"

Two seasons earlier, when West entertained thoughts of retirement before the team's conference finals exit, he found the motivation to return from the Pacers being so tantalizingly close to competing for an NBA championship. But that changed with George's injury.

"At that moment, the light went out," West said. "Even with Lance (Stephenson) gone … before he gets hurt, I'm like, Paul's really going to have a chance to grow. So the light was still there. We'll just ride with Paul and see what happens. When he got hurt, I was sorta like 'damn!'"

"What we were looking for, obviously what our goals were as a group the last couple years, the light just went out on that," West continued. "I wouldn't necessarily say I was (declaring) I'm not going to play, but I definitely think about it. Like I said, I don't have a lot of time left in this league. I'm just one of those guys that just never intended to play a long time."

West also never envisioned himself as a ring hunter near the end of his career. The thought of trying to wrangle his way to a title contender just doesn't appeal to him.

"I'm not going to be one of those guys that's just out here chasing that. I'm not going to be one those guys out here sacrificing who I am, the things that make me me, to go out and get a material goal. That's just not the way I'm wired," West declared. "So, I understand we're not in that space anymore in terms of this group, but that's fine. It's just a reality you have to deal with, but you got to accept it and face it in order to get yourself moving and producing positively."

The light, as West describes it, may no longer flicker, and he admits that he doesn't know the source of his motivation to jump back into his 12th season – "Honestly, when I got back here, that's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for some energy from camp and getting to know Rodney (Stuckey) and C.J. (Miles) and some of the new guys we have," West said.

However, in preparation for the season, West still trained like he has in previous summers and showed up ready for camp like he has every other year.

West never dogged it during those full-court sprints at the end of Tuesday's practice. And don't expect West to slack off this season. Though the team's chase may have changed, his marathon continues.

"I'll focus on the work that we have, the task that we have here and the thing, we have to do here to get ourselves rolling and get ourselves in a good position. See what types of groups we can put on the floor, particularly early, and see what sort of team we are. We've got to develop an identity," West said. "Again, it's just a part of it. I don't think anybody's backing away from it. We've got to face what our reality is."

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.