If you haven’t caught the story yet, here’s a link to Windhorst’s most recent article, which outlines most of what’s happened so far and provides some nice insight into what’s been going on with Delonte over the last little while.
Basically, here’s what happened. Delonte cut off a police officer while riding his motorcycle on the freeway, and they found two loaded handguns on him, as well as a shotgun strapped to his leg. Now, carrying a gun, while not a decision I would make, is understandable. Athletes have a lot of money, many of them feel like targets when they go out in public, et cetera. But two loaded pistols and a shotgun? That’s a wee bit excessive. West’s documented issues with bipolar disorder do, obviously, escalate the concern here.
At this point, I’m going to say it’s best to hold the breaks on this situation for a while, because we still don’t know a lot of details about the situation itself (Were the guns obtained illegally? What reason did Delonte give for being armed? Is Delonte looking at jail time), and, more importantly, we really don’t know Delonte West.
Delonte’s player profile is still forthcoming, but to the extent that I have favorite athletes, Delonte is one of them. He plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played, gives his all every night, is regularly hilarious and witty in interviews, and opened up an important discussion with his admission that he suffers from bipolar disorder. But somehow, I feel strangely unfazed by this turn of events, because at some point I’ve reconciled that knowing the above about Delonte West doesn’t mean I know Delonte West. I could go on and on, and may at some point this off-season, but there’s really a whole lot more to say than that.
Now isn’t the time for a snap judgement or to rush to Delonte’s defense. Right now, I’m hoping that the facts of what happened get cleared up soon, that Delonte receives and accepts an appropriate penalty or lack thereof in the eyes of the law, and that Delonte does well through whatever may happen next.
Like most, I’m sure, I can’t help but to think that the DETAILS of this story are freakin’ awesome – shotgun in the guitar case, and the sweetest bike I’ve ever seen. But the overall picture could not be more depressing for 2 reasons: 1) the human aspect of it – ‘Te suffers from depression and who knows where the hell he was going with those guns and what he was planning on doing with them, and 2) the selfish aspect – this was the ONLY thing that could have gone wrong before the season started, some stupid off-court crap. I realize the situations are different, but I can’t help but think of Plax, and boy would it be a hit to the team/season if he goes away for the year. Thankfully, as bad as this situation is, it appears it could have been a lot worse – he was cooperative with the police, and if he was going to off himself, he didn’t need to get on the bike and drive somewhere else to do it. One news station the other night reported that jail time is “possible, but doubtful.” Let’s hope they’re right, and not just trying to ease our Clevelander hearts.
One other thing I was thinking about this morning in regards to this – does anyone but me think that Lebron probably has ZERO clue what’s going on with arguably the 2nd best player on last year’s team? I’m not saying he needs to be ‘Te’s big brother or anything to that extent, but if my #1 goal was a championship, I’d be checking in on the important piece to that puzzle that suffers from depression from time to time. While I admit I don’t know for sure what kind of contact he keeps with his teammates, Bron just seems so consumed with himself this offseason, and with training camp right around the corner, he needs to get back into team mode.
I think he was going on a hunting trip.
nice post. very wise.
Well, I can tell you that Bron was JJ Hickson’s place on Friday to watch the fight. How do I know? Because my roommate’s cousin is DATING JJ FREAKIN HICKSON!!!! Can you say courtside seats? haha.
Sorry, that first line should read:
“Well, I can tell you that Bron was AT JJ Hickson’s place…”
Minor typo.