From NBA Star to Homeless: The Tragic Journey of Delonte West

Delonte West played eight years on different NBA teams

“All the time I was looking to commit suicide.” Delonte West does not talk about the suffering he experienced a couple of years ago, when images of him, living on the streets, fighting, begging and with a clear appearance of homeless that made it difficult to recognize him, went viral… In a note in the Washington Post, in 2015, the former NBA recounted his sorrows during his childhood and adolescence, when it was common for him to cut his veins or take pills that he did not even know about. So it was that he went in and out of children’s hospitals several times. “I was looking for attention,” he admitted.

He had a hard time in Prince George, a city in Maryland, near Washington DC, his birthplace. Raised in a poor family, he suffered bullying at school because of his hair color (red), his parents separated, he had to live in the countryside and his behavioral disorders broke out there. Basketball rescued him. And his talent led him to the NBA, in 2004. He played eight seasons, several at a good level, always being part of the rotation of the teams (Boston, Seattle, Cleveland and Dallas) and was even a teammate with LeBron James. He then tried his luck abroad until his return and retirement from the G-League in 2015.

From there the problems returned that ended up squandering his fortune – in the NBA, only, he earned 16.3 million dollars – and living on the street. In January 2020, it made headlines when a police officer arrested him and recorded a video in which he was seen in the worst condition. And in September he was directly seen as a homeless. Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks, rescued him and he was admitted to a rehabilitation center in Florida. After a noticeable improvement, he returned to the networks at the hands of Ice Cube, the rapper who gave him a push to return to playing basketball, no less than in the Big 3, the professional 3×3 competition that many former NBA members make up. But, after one attempt, another arrest and video set off the alarms again. This is his story, that of a boy who has lived in hell and heaven, several times…

The first turning point in his life happened one night in 1997, in a hospital in Cumberland, Maryland. “I couldn’t take it anymore and I was convinced, it was time to commit suicide. I decided: it had to be that night. In my room and whatever… ”, she admitted some time later. But she didn’t make it. He listened to an inner voice and ended up on his knees, praying, negotiating “a deal with God” through a promise he made in silence.

In 2019 they found him on the street living like a stringer

-If you help me survive and get out of this, to play professional basketball, I will make sure to glorify your name…

That night passed and a month later he was discharged. He was 14 years old when he enrolled at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt and ended up excelling, to the point of being the best player in the region and receiving a scholarship from Saint Joseph’s University. In his third and final year, he rose to national recognition by averaging 19 points and 4.7 assists en route to a 30-2 record and reaching the top eight of the NCAA tournament (more than 300 universities participate), forming a midfield elite with Jameer Nelson. That gave him the push to be chosen in the first round of the NBA draft, in 2004, by the Celtics, no less. In Boston he played the first three seasons, with good success (12.2 points, 4.4 assists and 3 rebounds) for this 1m91 point guard who did a little of everything. He was in the genesis of the team that would win the title in 2008… In fact, precisely, in June 2007, he was traded to Seattle in the trade that added Ray Allen, part of the Boston Big 4 that would win the championship, a year later .

Six months later he moved to Cleveland, where he would play alongside King LeBron for a year and a half, helping him (with 10.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.7 recoveries) to reach No. 1 in the regular season and reaching the Eastern finals. But a year later he moved on to Minnesota, with less luck. He returned to Boston and then went to Dallas, but failed to hold his own in the best league in the world, despite the fact that his level ended up being quite good.

What happened? The click occurred in September 2008, in Cleveland, during its prime. A fight with a referee during a friendly, which coincided with the woman’s separation from him, led to studies that revealed her “bipolar disorder” and a two-week “rest”. Maybe he was wrong to make it public (“this is a ghost that I had all my life, a self-destructive behavior that I have”, he admitted) because from then on nothing was the same. Especially from a rumor that spread throughout the NBA after the Cavs failed in the playoffs, after a brilliant regular season: Delonte is dating LeBron’s mother, Gloria, they said. West denied it, no one knows what James thought, but after a few months, the King decided to go to the Miami Heat and West began to go off the rails.

Delonte West, Kevin “Uncle Skoob” Kuteyi, and Arthur Labinowicz

In September 2009, the Police arrested him for carrying out “dangerous maneuvers” with his motorcycle. But the worst thing was that they found several weapons in a bag and he was accused of eight counts: they gave him eight months of house arrest. The incident was seen through the prism of mental illness that the same player had admitted and nothing was the same. In the 2011 lockout, when games were suspended, he looked for a job and got it, first at HomeDepot and then at a furniture store. The Mavs gave him the last chance but he was twice suspended for “conduct detrimental to the team” and Cuban, the owner, had to ask him not to show up for the next preseason. That made him worse… He himself said that he used to sit on the balcony of his apartment, which overlooked the Mavs stadium, to watch the people come in. For two and a half hours, he did not move. “He was sad, grumpy… Every day he cried. And he did not eat. All because of that bad decision to tell everything. I thought people would let it go, but no…”, he explained.

In 2012, he admitted to having slept in the Mavs locker room and even in his car because he did not have money to rent his home. This was before trying to play abroad. He played a handful of games in China and arranged to go through the Venezuelan league, but never made his debut, due to his emotional ups and downs. His last attempt, in the G-League, the NBA development league, did not end well either, with an injury that ended up keeping him away from his great passion, basketball.

That’s where it ended up going down. The few savings he had left disappeared and, with the money, the few “friends of the champion” that remained… Everything began to be black in his life and, especially, in his head. And he lost everything. All. The NBA environment -and the world- was shocked when, in January 2019, a police officer -who would later be suspended- recorded a video of West in deplorable conditions after leading a fight in the middle of a highway in Washington DC -it looks like another man brutally hits him on the floor while traffic is stopped. West was shirtless, dirty and disoriented. Interrogated and handcuffed, he showed the worst and saddest version of him in that video.

That triggered the help of some former teammates, especially Jameer Nelson. But that point guard who had made a great pair with him in the NCAA confessed that Delonte refused to receive help. “All we can do is pray for him and his family and hope he gets the help he needs,” he said. The NBA, the Players Association, and coach Doc Rivers sought to intervene in the months that followed. They raised the need to be admitted to a medical center, but the former player refused. And his sorrows continued, on the streets… Until in August several photos and a video showed him even worse, on the side of a highway in Dallas.

To his help was Cuban, who was able to do what no former partner or family member could: put him in a rehabilitation center in Florida. The eccentric owner of the Mavs, who had tried to help him before — offered to be his financial adviser so he wouldn’t spend so much money — ran into his sister and rescued him from a gas station. He paid for hospitalization in a center where he received help to fight his addictions and mental problems. To this positive news were added the images of him playing basketball on an indoor court and Cuban shared others while riding a horse. “Gentlemen and gentlemen, I present to you Delonte West. He still has a long, long way to go, but he’s taking his first steps. I share these images and I thank you for the love and support… ”, he wrote on social networks. At the same time, he made another post with photos of West in a kayak and playing Frisbee with therapists. “Since we all want something to feel good about today, here is your Delonte West update. It’s still an uphill battle, but he’s going up!” Mark communicated.

LeBron James and Delonte West

The good news did not stop and rapper Ice Cube shared photos and videos of West in his attempt to return to professional basketball, in this case in the Big 3. After finishing his drug addiction rehabilitation process, he trained to the test he was given in Las Vegas to enter the 3×3 league created by Cube and in which several former NBA players such as Joe Johnson or Lamar Odom participate. In mid-March he was ready for the test and videos in which he talked about his new chance went viral.

But, a few months later, in June, another video asking for alms in the streets set off the alarms. Then the news of an arrest for wandering around came out and there was no more news, beyond a photo in which he seemed to be training to return to play in Puerto Rico.

When he saw a light at the end of the tunnel, hell reappeared. Can he get back up?

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