Le Basketbawl

You may find this a little hard to believe but Your Old Pal New York Vinnie loves movies with “Happy Endings.” Maybe the reason is that real life is filled with all sorts of Frickin Crapolla especially given the current state of the Planet. However New York Vinnie happens to like movies when the guy gets the girl or the kid and his dog are reunited. In Real Life it seems too often these days that the bad guys win; so it is nice to see the good guys win sometimes when you watch a flick.

In Cleveland of all cities there appears to be at least the beginnings of a “Happy Ending” going on with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tuesday the “Associated Press” reported that Cavaliers guard Delonte West was back with the team after missing the last week dealing with his ongoing battle with bi-polar disorder. West was arrested last month in Maryland while he was off his medication. The Cavaliers guard who will be heading into his sixth NBA season was found to be in possession of two concealed, unlicensed handguns as well as a shot gun inside a guitar case that was strapped to his back.  The guard was present for the Cavaliers Media Day but then missed four straight workout sessions without getting permission from the team. West was fined for those missed practices; however last week he had gotten permission from the club to take his leave of absence.

Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown spoke with reporters after the practice session Tuesday about his guard. Brown said “He was here today, I coached him today, we’ll take tomorrow as it comes. I’m not assuming or guessing anything. I’m just coaching the guys here on the floor.

Brown said the missed time from practice should not effect West’s being on the same page as the rest of the club. The Cleveland coach told reporters ” He’s been with us for more than a year. We have not changed much at all. We’ve done a few new things offensively and defensively, but our concepts are still the same. He’ll fit in fine. He’s an intelligent player and a skill player. Because of the experience he’s had with us and we’ve had with him, he’ll start to jell sooner than later.”

Delonte last season was diagnosed with the disorder and missed 10 days of the Cavaliers preseason  as he dealt with his problems. Once West came back there were no difficulties in fact the guard was the most consistent player during the NBA Playoffs for Cleveland other than Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James.

As New York Vinnie has written before; I am not a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers nor had I ever really paid that much attention to Delonte West’s career off the court before this situation arose last month. However New York Vinnie continues to pull for this young man to win this battle against his inner demons. So that one day Delonte West can have his own “Happy Ending.”