Once a star guard at Saint Joseph’s, Delonte West found his NBA career shortened due to a wide variety of on-court and the off-the-court problems. Sadly, another off-the-court incident got him into trouble with the law this week.
West was reportedly arrested in Florida this week after reportedly getting into a drunken incident with local police. Per TMZ Sports, West was charged with obstruction/resisting without violence, open container, and disorderly intoxication.
It’s been a particularly rough couple of years for West, who has openly battled bipolar disorder and depression since the 2000s. In 2020, he was allegedly panhandling in Dallas, where Mavericks owner Mark Cuban found him and got him checked into rehab.
NBA fans have shown a lot of sympathy for West. There’s a pretty significant outpouring of support for him and hope that he’ll get over his latest hurdles:
As a junior at Saint Joseph’s, Delonte West helped the Hawks go 30-2, reaching the Elite Eight for only the fourth time in program history. His success at Saint Joseph’s earned him a first-round selection by the Boston Celtics in the 2004 NBA Draft.
Doc Rivers quickly put West to good use, starting him in 127 of 203 games in 3.5 seasons. He was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and played the next 2.5 seasons for them.
But as off-the-court issues continued to vex him, West’s NBA career winded down. He played two more NBA seasons with the Celtics and Mavericks then tried his hand in other professional leagues.
His NBA career may be over, but hopefully he can get his life back in order.