Delonte West

At 41 years old, Delonte West has this physical status:

Delonte Maurice West (born July 26, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player who competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Dallas Mavericks.

He has also competed for the China Basketball Association's Fujian Xunxing and Shanghai Sharks as well as the Texas Legends of the NBA G League.

West played college basketball for Saint Joseph's University before starting to play professionally.

Personal life

West has referred to his childhood as "good-poor" and has said he lived with various relatives. During his teenage years in West, he used opioids, participated in suicide, and spent time in children's hospitals.

West is multiracial, with African American, Piscataway Native American, and White American roots. In 2008, West was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Although he initially accepted the condition, he later denied it, claiming that his issues arose from a combination of temporary depression and the demands of a basketball player lifestyle.

When riding a Can-Am Spyder three-wheeled motorcycle, West was arrested for a traffic infringement on September 17, 2009. It was discovered that West had a 9mm Beretta pistol in his waistband, a Ruger.357 Magnum revolver strapped to his leg, and a Remington 870 rifle in a guitar case across his back. He was arrested and had court trouble on November 20. West denied that he was moving the guns to a new location because his mother had warned him that his cousins' children had stumbled upon them in a closet at his house. West pleaded guilty to the traffic and firearms charges and was sentenced to electronic monitoring, unsupervised probation, 40 hours of community service, as well as psychological counseling.

Although West has bought homes for each of his children and has also provided other financial assistance to relatives, he has also faced financial difficulties. He applied for a job at Home Depot and worked at a furniture store during the 2011 NBA lockout.

In 2010, West's first marriage resulted in divorce. Caressa Madden married Caressa Madden in 2013. They have two sons.

West was photographed in a public place in Houston, Texas, while barefoot and wearing a hospital gown in February 2016. In June 2016, a photo of West panhandling in Temple Hills, Maryland, went viral. The image caused rumors that West was homeless, as the photographer's Twitter account that published the photograph suggested otherwise and asked his followers to pray for him because of his psychological disorders. Since the homeless man was quadriplegic, West immediately denied the reports, stating that, although the photo is legitimate, he has a house and is only assisting someone who is homeless.

On a Washington, D.C. highway, a video of West in handcuffs surfaced in January 2020.

After photos of West as panhandling at an intersection in Dallas, Texas, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban picked up West from a gas station on September 28, 2020. The Cuban paid for opioid therapy, and West also had a hotel room to stay in. West now works at the rehabilitation center where he checked in and reunited with his mother on January 19, 2021. New videos of West begging emerged in July 2022, this time in Virginia. After being seen attempting to open a vehicle that did not belong to him, West was arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia, on October 15-2022. He was arrested on four counts of misdemeanors.

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High school career

West went to Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he excelled at basketball, alongside fellow NBA player Eddie Basden. He led the Roosevelt Raiders to their first state tournament appearance. Delonte had 22 points and 8 rebounds in the Maryland 4A championship, but the Raiders lost 70-58. Due to his averages of 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.1 steals per game, he was named Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year.

College career

West, along with John R. Wooden Award and Naismith Award winner Jameer Nelson, formed what was widely regarded as the best backcourt in the country. West averaged 18.9 points and 6.7 assists per game as a youth, shooting 41% from three-point range. His efforts helped the Saint Joseph's Hawks go 27-0 in the regular season and earn an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Saint Joseph's season ended at 30–2.

Professional career

Since being chosen as the 24th pick in the 2004 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, West decided to leave St. Joseph's junior campaign. In his first season as a result of injuries, he played in just 39 games, mainly off the bench. He had 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. West was named the starting point guard by head coach Doc Rivers after making the change to point guard in his rookie season.

West averaged 11.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 4.6 APG from 2005-06. On February 12, 2006, he was chosen to represent the Celtics on the second team of the Rookie Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend. Jameer Nelson, his college mate who suffered due to injuries, was replaced by Coincidentally.

In the 2006–07 season, West was promoted to the shooting guard position, but early in the season, he showed signs of anxiety early in the season. He was later promoted to the point guard post. On November 8, 2006, West had some crucial shots, including a game-winning buzzer against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 8, 2006, and a game-tying three pointer with 4 seconds remaining in regulation, bringing the game to overtime against the New Jersey Nets. The Celtics will eventually win the match against the Nets. In a double overtime Celtics victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, West scored a career-high 31 points and made a career-high 12 free throw shots. In that game in the second half and the two overtimes, West scored all 31 of his points. He was sharing starting minutes with Rajon Rondo at the end of the 2006–07 season.

He was traded with Wally Szczerbiak to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Ray Allen after three seasons in Boston on June 27, 2007.

West was drafted by Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, and Wally Szczerbiak to the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 21, 2008. Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown, Drew Gooden, and Cedric Simmons were traded to the Chicago Bulls, as well as Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble, and Seattle's Adrian Griffin. He was reunited with his Saint Joseph's teammate Dwayne Jones.

West played in 26 regular season games (starting all 26) and averaged 10.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.1 steals as a Cavalier. He had a season high 20 points against the Boston Celtics just six days after being traded to the Cavaliers and a season-high 11 assists against the Philadelphia 76ers on March 30, 2008. West played in 61 games (starting 31) and averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.2 rebounds for the entire season.

West made his best 3-pointer of his NBA career on April 27, 2008, in a playoff game against the Washington Wizards in Washington. In this first round series, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to take the lead by a tie-breaking game-winner.

West signed a three-year, $12.7 million deal with the Cavaliers on September 12, 2008. Due to Mo Williams' acquisition, he was moved to the starting shooting guard position at the start of the season.

He was a starter for the Cavaliers, who won a league-best and franchise-record 66 games during the regular season and went 39–2 at home. In addition to his work as the starting shooting guard, he also served as the reserve point guard, manning the position when Mo Williams was not in the game. He made a name for himself in backcourt defense, guarding a number of players, ranging from the 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Ben Gordon to the 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Hedo Türkolu. Offensively, he was a good outside shooter with a field-goal percentage of 46% (and 40% on three-pointers), and he maintained his fame as an athletic and hard-nosed player with the ball. West, Williams, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Anderson Varejo formed a supporting cast for franchise star LeBron James.

West set a career high against the Miami Heat on March 2, 2009, with eight steals.

Despite losing with his three-point shot much like his backcourt-mate Williams, whose shooting woes in the playoffs were well documented, West's averages shot up to nearly 14 points per game in the playoffs. Also, the Cavs' lack of scoring power on the bench pushed West to take on intensely high minute loads. He averaged 42 minutes per game during the regular season, and the Orlando Magicians lost in six games due to, again, shooting issues between Williams and West. In addition, this, he drew the defensive assignment of Hedo Türkolu, who had a seven-inch height advantage, allowing James to play the "rover." In spurts, West was able to stop Türkolu's facilitation of the Magic offense, but the height advantage was too weak, as Türkolu helped to dominate the Cavalier defense throughout the series. West set a new career playoff record by scoring 22 points in a losing effort against the Magic in Game 6 before the Cavs were disqualified.

Delonte West averaged 8.8 points in 25 minutes per game over the 2009–2010 season, with only three games as a starter for the Cavs. The Cavaliers lost in the Conference Semifinals to the Boston Celtics in six games in the 2010 NBA Playoffs. In the playoffs, West averaged 6.7 points.

Following LeBron James' departure from the Cavaliers to the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers traded West, along with Sebastian Telfair, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins, and a future draft pick. Straight after acquiring him, the Timberwolves waived West.

The Boston Celtics signed Rajon Rondo as a point guard on September 1, 2010.

Following a guilty plea to weapons charges in Maryland, West was banned for the first ten games of the 2010–11 season. West finished with 5.6 points per game, 0.8 steals per game, and 2.7 assists per game during the 2010-2011 season. He also shot.867 from the free throw line.

On December 13, 2011, West signed with the Dallas Mavericks. He averaged 9.6 points per game during the 2011–12 season. On July 26, 2012, he re-signed with the Mavericks.

Following an argument after a preseason loss on October 15, 2012, West was suspended indefinitely. He was recalled after a single day but then suspended again on October 25 for the same reason following another preseason setback. The Mavericks waived West on October 29, 2012.

The Texas Legends of the NBA D-League acquired West on January 25, 2013. In an 85-103 loss to the Santa Cruz Warriors, West made his Legends debut with ten points on March 16, 2013.

In October 2013, West agreed to a one-year agreement with Fujian Xunxing of China.

West joined the Los Angeles Clippers for the 2014 NBA Summer League in July 2014.

West signed a one-year contract with the Shanghai Sharks in September 2014, marking his second stint in China. Despite a 29-point debut game in the season opener on November 1, the player was released by the team on November 18 after just four games.

West signed Guaros de Lara of Venezuelan Liga Profesional de Baloncesto on January 12, 2015, but the team was unable to play in a game for them.

West was reacquired by the Texas Legends on March 12, 2015 and appeared for them against the Delaware 87ers that night. In a 122-119 loss, he scored ten points and six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. After suffering from a season-ending injury, the Legends cut him on April 2nd.

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