Was David Lee pushed out of the NBA thanks to collateral damage from the Golden State Warriors?
The NBA veteran officially announced his retirement over the weekend despite being only 34 and feeling up to playing more, and he admitted that part of the reason he called it a day was because of a relative lack of interest in his services. That lack of interest, he thinks, is a result of the Warriors forcing their rivals to rethink their roster construction — either becoming a “superteam” or going younger with a long-term view.
“I kind of had a little bit more of a strict criteria coming into this offseason,” Lee told 95.7 The Game, via Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area. “At the most I wanted to play another two years, and as you know — I had another injury last season, so a lot of the summer was spent rehabbing.
“And with the NBA changing right now, the Warriors have caused a lot of teams in the league to say either we’re gonna try to put as many guys on one team as possible to try to compete with the Warriors, or we’re gonna go super young. So it did limit my options.”
Lee did win a title in his final season with the Warriors, and he said he has friends who have offered him business opportunities in the Bay Area. That, along with his impending nuptials, will likely keep him busy in retirement.
