Delonte West

Delonte Maurice West (born July 26, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Dallas Mavericks. He also played professionally for the Fujian Xunxing and Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association and the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. Prior to playing professionally, West played college basketball for Saint Joseph's University.

Delonte West
West with the Celtics in 2011
Personal information
Born (1983-07-26) July 26, 1983
Washington, D.C.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolEleanor Roosevelt
(Greenbelt, Maryland)
CollegeSaint Joseph's (2001–2004)
NBA draft2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career2004–2015
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
Number13, 2
Career history
2004–2007Boston Celtics
2007–2008Seattle SuperSonics
2008–2010Cleveland Cavaliers
2010–2011Boston Celtics
2011–2012Dallas Mavericks
2013Texas Legends
2013–2014Fujian Xunxing
2014Shanghai Sharks
2015Texas Legends
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

West went to Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he excelled at basketball, teaming with fellow future NBA player Eddie Basden. He led the Raiders to their first state tournament appearance. They made it to the Maryland 4A championship, where Delonte had 22 points and 8 rebounds, but the Raiders lost 70–58. He was named Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year due to his averages of 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.1 steals per game.[1]

College career

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

Professional career

Boston Celtics (2004–2007)

West chose to leave St. Joseph's after his junior campaign where he was selected by the Boston Celtics as the 24th pick in the 2004 NBA draft. In his first season, he struggled with injuries, playing a total of just 39 games, mostly coming off the bench. He averaged 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. After making the transition to point guard in his rookie season, West was named the starting point guard at the beginning of the 2005–06 season by head coach Doc Rivers.

In 2005–06, West averaged 11.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 4.6 APG. On February 12, 2006, he was named to represent the Celtics on the sophomore team for the Rookie Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend. Coincidentally, he replaced his college teammate Jameer Nelson, who withdrew because of injuries.

West was moved to the shooting guard spot in the 2006–07 season, but showed signs of difficulty early in the season. He was later moved back to the point guard position. West had some clutch shots, including a game-winning buzzer-beater against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 8, 2006, and a game-tying three pointer with 4 seconds remaining in regulation to bring the game into overtime against the New Jersey Nets on March 3, 2007. The Celtics would eventually win the game against the Nets. The next day against the Minnesota Timberwolves, West scored a career-high 31 points and made a career-high 12 free throw shots, in a double overtime Celtics victory. West scored all 31 of his points in that game during the second half and the two overtimes. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he was sharing starting minutes with Rajon Rondo.

Seattle SuperSonics (2007–2008)

On June 28, 2007 (during the 2007 NBA Draft) the Celtics traded West to the Seattle SuperSonics, along with Jeff Green (their 5th overall pick) and Wally Szczerbiak in exchange for Ray Allen and Sonics' 35th overall pick Glen Davis.[3]

Cleveland Cavaliers (2008–2010)
West with the Cavaliers in 2009

On February 21, 2008, West was part of a three-team trade that sent him, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The trade also sent Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown, Drew Gooden, and Cedric Simmons to the Chicago Bulls and Donyell Marshall, Ira Newble, and Adrian Griffin to Seattle.[4] He was reunited with his Saint Joseph's teammate Dwayne Jones.

As a Cavalier, 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. He had a season high 20 points against the Boston Celtics only six days after his trade to the Cavaliers and a season-high 11 assists on March 30, 2008 against the Philadelphia 76ers. For the entire season, West played in 61 games (starting 31) and averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds.

On April 27, 2008, West made perhaps the most clutch 3-pointer of his NBA career with 5.4 seconds left in a playoff game against the Washington Wizards, in Washington. His tiebreaking game-winner took the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 3–1 lead in this first round series.[5] In 13 playoff games, West averaged 10.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds. West scored 21 points in both Game 3 and Game 5 against the Boston Celtics.

On September 12, 2008, West signed a three-year $12.7 million contract with the Cavaliers. He was moved to the starting shooting guard position at the beginning of the season, due to the acquisition of Mo Williams.

He became 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 role as the starting shooting guard, he also served as the backup point guard, manning the position when Mo Williams was not in the game. He emerged as a talented backcourt defensive player, guarding a variety of players ranging from the 6'3" Ben Gordon to the 6'10" Hedo Türkoğlu. Offensively, he proved to be a capable outside shooter, with a field-goal percentage of 46% (and 40% on three-pointers), and maintained his reputation as an athletic and hard-nosed driver with the ball. West, Williams, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Anderson Varejão came together to form a supporting cast for franchise player LeBron James.

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

In the playoffs, West's averages shot up to nearly 14 points per game, despite struggling with his 3-point shot much like his backcourt-mate Williams, whose shooting struggles in the playoffs were well documented. Further, the Cavs' lack of scoring punch on the bench forced West to take on extremely high minute loads. He averaged 42 minutes per game throughout the postseason, and in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic (which the Cavs lost in 6 games due in part to, again, outside shooting struggles from Williams and West) he played over 45 minutes per game, more than any other player in the series. In addition to this, he drew the defensive assignment of Hedo Türkoğlu, who had a 7-inch height advantage, to allow James to play the "rover". West was able to stop Türkoğlu's facilitation of the Magic offense in spurts, but the height advantage was too much, as Türkoğlu helped to dominate the Cavalier defense throughout the series. West set a new career playoff high in points, with 22 in a losing effort in Game 6 against the Magic when the Cavs were eliminated.

Over the 2009–10 season, Delonte West averaged 8.8 points in 25 minutes per game with only three games as a starter for the Cavs. In the 2010 NBA Playoffs, the Cavaliers lost in the Conference Semifinals series to the Boston Celtics in six games. West averaged 6.7 points in the playoffs.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2010)

After LeBron James left the Cavaliers to sign with 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.[6]

The Timberwolves waived West shortly after acquiring him.[7]

Return to the Boston Celtics (2010–2011)

On September 1, 2010, the Boston Celtics signed West to a one-year contract to back up Rajon Rondo as a point guard.[8]

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

Dallas Mavericks (2011–2012)

West signed with the Dallas Mavericks on December 13, 2011.[9] During the 2011–12 season, he averaged 9.6 points per game. He re-signed with the Mavericks on July 26, 2012.

West was suspended indefinitely following an argument after a preseason loss on October 15, 2012. He was reinstated after one day, but suspended again on October 25 for the same reason after another preseason loss.[10] On October 29, 2012, West was waived by the Mavericks.[11]

Late career (2013–2015)

On January 25, 2013, West was acquired by the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League.[12] On March 16, 2013, West made his debut for the Legends with 10 points in an 85–103 loss to the Santa Cruz Warriors.[13]

In October 2013, West signed a one-year deal with Fujian Xunxing of China.[14]

In July 2014, West joined the Los Angeles Clippers for the 2014 NBA Summer League.[15]

In September 2014, West signed a one-year deal with the Shanghai Sharks, returning to China for a second stint.[16] However, he was released by the team on November 18 after just four games despite a 29-point debut game in the season opener on November 1.[17]

On January 12, 2015, West signed with Guaros de Lara of the Venezuelan Liga Profesional de Baloncesto[18] but left the team before playing in a game for them.

On March 12, 2015, West was reacquired by the Texas Legends[19] and appeared for them that night against the Delaware 87ers. In 19 minutes off the bench, he recorded 10 points and 6 rebounds in a 122–119 loss.[20] On April 2, he was waived by the Legends after suffering a season-ending injury.[21]

Personal life

West has described his childhood as "happy-poor", and has said that he lived with various relatives. During his teen years, West states that he abused drugs, engaged in self-harm, and spent time in children's hospitals.[22]

West is multiracial, with African American, Piscataway Native American, and European American heritage.[23] West was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2008.[24] While he initially accepted the diagnosis, he later disputed it, suggesting that his difficulties arose from a combination of temporary depression and the stresses of a basketball player lifestyle.[25]

On September 17, 2009, West was pulled over for a traffic violation while riding a Can-Am Spyder three-wheeled motorcycle. During this stop, it was found that West had a 9mm Beretta pistol in his waistband, a Ruger .357 Magnum revolver strapped to his leg, and a Remington 870 shotgun in a guitar case across his back. He was subsequently arrested and had a court appearance on November 20.[26] West contended that he was moving the weapons to a different location because his mother had informed him that his cousins' children had stumbled upon them in a closet at his home.[25] West pleaded guilty to the traffic and weapons charges and was sentenced to electronic monitoring, unsupervised probation, and 40 hours of community service as well as psychological counseling.[27]

While West has purchased homes for each of his parents and has provided other financial support for relatives, he has also experienced financial difficulties.[25][28] During the 2011 NBA lockout, he applied for a job at Home Depot and worked at a furniture store.[28][22]

West's first marriage ended in divorce in 2010.[25] He married Caressa Madden in 2013.[28] They have two sons.[22]

In February 2016, West was photographed in a public place in Houston, Texas while barefoot and wearing a hospital gown.[28] In June 2016, a photo of West panhandling in Temple Hills, Maryland went viral.[29] The photo sparked speculation that West was homeless, as the Twitter account that broke the photo suggested as such and asked his followers to pray for West given his psychological issues.[29] West immediately denied the rumors, stating that, while the photo is genuine, he has a home and was merely assisting someone who actually was homeless, since the homeless man was quadriplegic.[29]

In January 2020, a video surfaced showing West being beaten on a Washington, DC highway.[30]

On September 28, 2020, after photos circulated West as panhandling at an intersection in Dallas, Texas, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban picked up West from a gas station. Cuban offered to pay for rehabilitation treatment and provided West a hotel room to stay in.[31][32]

On January 19, 2021, reports came in that West now has a job at a rehab facility in Florida and has reunited with his mother.[33][34]

NBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004–05 Boston 39713.0.426.358.7041.71.4.5.24.3
2005–06 Boston 717134.1.487.385.8514.14.61.2.611.8
2006–07 Boston 694732.2.427.365.8533.04.41.1.512.2
2007–08 Seattle 35520.8.388.339.6672.73.2.9.36.8
2007–08 Cleveland 262631.0.440.367.7883.74.51.1.710.3
2008–09 Cleveland 646433.6.457.399.8333.23.51.5.211.7
2009–10 Cleveland 60325.0.445.325.8102.83.3.9.58.8
2010–11 Boston 24218.9.458.364.8671.52.7.8.45.6
2011–12 Dallas 443324.1.461.355.8862.33.21.3.39.6
Career 43225827.4.448.372.8262.93.61.1.49.7

Playoffs


Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005 Boston 7316.4.524.455.5001.3.61.0.14.1
2008 Cleveland 131334.8.400.429.8543.34.21.2.510.8
2009 Cleveland 141442.2.465.333.8333.54.11.4.513.8
2010 Cleveland 11024.5.418.158.9381.92.6.8.36.7
2011 Boston 9018.9.468.368.8001.91.3.6.06.6
2012 Dallas 4322.0.423.5001.0001.82.0.8.07.5
Career 583329.0.442.361.8472.52.81.0.39.1

References
  1. All-Met Winter 2001. Washington Post. 2001. Retrieved on May 25, 2009.
  2. 2003–04 Saint Joseph's Hawks. sports-reference.com
  3. "Celtics Acquire Seven-Time All-Star Ray Allen from Sonics". Nba.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  4. "Cavs get Wallace from Bulls, Szczerbiak from Sonics". ESPN. 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  5. "Cleveland vs. Washington – Recap". ESPN. 2008-04-27. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  6. "Cavaliers Acquire Sessions and Hollins from Minnesota". Nba.com. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  7. "Wolves Waive Delonte West". Nba.com. 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  8. "Celtics to re-sign Delonte West". Sports.espn.go.com. 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  9. "Mavericks Sign Guard Delonte West". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. December 13, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  10. "Dallas Mavericks have indefinitely suspended guard Delonte West". Insidehoops.com. 2014-01-05. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  11. "Dallas Mavericks waive guard Delonte West". InsideHoops.com. October 29, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  12. "LEGENDS ACQUIRE DELONTE WEST". NBA.com. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  13. "Delonte West Makes Debut with Legends". NBA.com. March 16, 2013. Archived from the original on March 19, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  14. "Delonte West signs in China with Fujian Xunxing". Sportando.com. October 2, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  15. "CLIPPERS ANNOUNCE 2014 NBA SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER". NBA.com. July 7, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  16. Delonte West to sign in China with Shanghai Sharks
  17. Shanghai Sharks cut Delonte West
  18. Delonte West signs in Venezuela with Guaros de Lara
  19. "Legends Acquire Delonte West". NBA.com. March 12, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  20. "Legends Fall Short In Final Seconds To 87ers". NBA.com. March 12, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  21. "NBA D-League 2014-15 Transactions". NBA.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  22. Maese, Rick (2015-04-10). "The fall and rise of Delonte West". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  23. Delonte West Player Mailbox. NBA.com. February 3, 2009. Retrieved on October 3, 2010.
  24. Pickman, Ben (2020-01-16). "Delonte West: Former teammates, coaches offer support after videos surface - Sports Illustrated". Si.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  25. Haglund, David (June 4, 2014). "Why Isn't Delonte West in the NBA". Slate.com. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  26. Windhorst, Brian (September 18, 2009). "Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West arrested on weapons charges". Cleveland.com.
  27. "Cavs' West Pleads Guilty In Md. Case | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio | Columbus News, Weather & Sports". 10tv.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  28. "The $16 million downfall of former NBA star Delonte West, seen wandering in Houston –". Theweeklychallenger.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  29. Mendoza, Madalyn; mySanAntonio.com (2016-06-28). "Former NBA player Delonte West says he was helping homeless man, not panhandling, in viral photo". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  30. "Phil Martelli seeks help for Delonte West after troubling video". espn.com. January 21, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  31. "Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban reaches out to help former NBA player Delonte West". espn.com. September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  32. Bella, Timothy. "A viral photo showed former NBA star Delonte West homeless. Mark Cuban found him and picked him up". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  33. "Source: Delonte West working at rehab center". ESPN.com. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  34. https://www.tmz.com/2021/01/19/delonte-west-lands-job-rehab-facility-florida/
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