Former NBA player Delonte West has struggled in recent years in the aftermath of his basketball career, and now, things might finally be turning around for him thanks to an old friend.
From ESPN:
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban picked up Delonte West at a Dallas gas station on Monday and is attempting to help the homeless former NBA player get his life back on track, Cuban confirmed to ESPN.
In addition to picking West up himself, TMZ reports that Cuban has offered to pay for whatever treatment is required to allow the former Maverick to get back on his feet. But outside of that, the billionaire entrepreneur and television personality has chosen to keep West’s privacy at the forefront.
“I can just confirm that I found him and helped him,” Cuban told The Washington Post in an email late Monday. “The rest is up to Delonte and his family to tell.”
As we previously reported at The Root, a disturbing photo surfaced last week in which the former St. Joseph’s standout appears to be in bad shape while holding up a sign at a busy intersection.
In response to the photo, friends and family expressed concern for his well-being while many took to Twitter to question why the NBA wasn’t doing more to help the embattled athlete.
In 2008, West was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but in the years since, he’s made it a point to refute his diagnosis.
“I am bipolar—just like the rest of us in the world,” he told The Post in 2015. “So bipolar is defined as something sad happens, you’re sad. Something happy happens, you’re happy. I think pretty much everyone in the world is like that. Now there’s different levels. How long do you stay sad? How does it affect your behavior? How do you handle these emotions?”
There was also an instance in January in which he was brutally attacked in a pair of disturbing videos.
From The Root:
In one video circulating on social media, the eight-year NBA veteran is brutally beaten in the middle of the street by an unidentified assailant. As he lies limp on the ground, he absorbs a flurry of punches to the face before eventually being stomped in the head.
In a second video, which is presumably the aftermath of this altercation, West rambles incoherently while handcuffed on a curb. He mentions that his assailant approached him with a gun, but thus far, those claims are unsubstantiated.
But for now, all appears to finally be well.
Per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic, West’s mother, Delphina Addison, tasked Cuban with tracking down her son, which Cuban was able to succeed in doing on Monday. And after a brief reunion with his loved ones, the 37-year-old checked into a rehab facility in Florida.
“A Delonte West update, as people close to the ex-NBA player going through very difficult personal struggle continue to offer help: Sources say Mavs owner Mark Cuban reunited West with his mother in Dallas on Monday—and now West has checked into rehab facility in Florida,” Charania tweeted.
After getting his life back on track, hopefully, West can find a renewed sense of purpose and inspire others to follow in his footsteps.
Our thoughts and prayers are with West and his family.