Delonte West hopefully on the road to recovery



Former Celtics guard Delonte West who in 2008 revealed he suffers from bipolar disorder has gone through way too many bad times since then. While he did make a return to the Celtics, the years following have been full of troubling sightings on social media. Just this past winter, Delonte was seen getting beat up in the streets of Washington D.C, and appeared to be homeless. This has been an ongoing battle.

While some famous people in basketball from Delonte's past said at the time they have tried to reach out to help him obviously it didn't work, as West's picture again was all over social media last month looking as bad as ever. To his credit, Mark Cuban went the extra mile this time around to help his troubled former player.

West, who played in the NBA from 2004 through 2012, was seen panhandling in the Dallas area in late September.

Cuban contacted West’s mother, Delphina Addison, to see how he could help after photos of West spread through social media.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the answer was to find the 37-year-old West. Cuban found him on Sept. 29 and waited with West until Addison could get to them, per Charania. He then helped the former first-round pick enter a rehab facility.


Mental illness is tough enough and Delonte shouldn't be mocked, just as we shouldn't mock physically handicapped people. Too often people then sadly resort to drugs to cope and you end up with a horrendous combination. That's how we've gotten to this point. While Cuban has shared that West in on the road to recovery, note that it is the very early stages. There's a long battle ahead for West and hopefully his NBA family will make sure that he continues to get better. Not just say they reached out, but actively continue to help West.