Le Basketbawl

If You are a regular here at “The House That New York Vinnie Built” Le Basketbawl than you are well aware of how closely I have been following the situation concerning Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West. Although New York Vinnie is far from a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers and I have never really paid that much attention to West before this past summer; I have been rooting for this young man to turn his life around. Saturday night the young man who has gone through the past few months fighting demons within himself may have taken the first step towards accomplishing that goal.

West as you are most likely are well aware of by now is battling a bi-polar disorder; with the proper medication the young man is fine. Unfortunately he went off his meds this summer and he had been dealing with the results of that ever since. Delonte back in September was pulled over in  Upper Marlboro, Maryland. West was riding a motorcycle at about 10:00pm when he cut off a cop on the Capital Beltway.

When the policeman pulled the Cavaliers guard over he was found packing some serious Frickin heat; he had a handgun in his pocket, another one shoved into the Frickin leg of his pants and they found a rifle in a guitar case that was strapped to his back. The weapons have been identified by the police as a Beretta 9mm handgun, a Ruger .357 magnum handgun, and a Remington 870 shotgun. West was charged with speeding and weapons counts according to Maryland Police.

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. West then asked and received permission from the team to take a leave of absence from the team to work out his mental health issues. He did not play in any of Cleveland’s preseason games or in the first three games of the regular season.

However Saturday night Delonte showed up for Halloween and went into the game to a standing ovation from the Cleveland fans. He did not show one bit of rust as he scored 13 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds and was a key part of the Cavaliers 90-79 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

New York Vinnie has written this before; West is one tough Frickin player on the floor and I think he is tough enough to deal with his mental health problems. In an era when we have so many Frickin PUDS in Pro Sports Delonte seems like a good dude with a problem. There was a saying when New York Vinnie was a little boy “Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life.”  Each day is a fresh start but you have to make the choice!