And-Ones: West, Finals Predictions, Spain, Hezonja

Former NBA guard Delonte West was arrested in Virginia on Thursday morning on misdemeanor charges of violating the conditions of his release and resisting arrest, ESPN’s Baxter Holmes reports. West is being held on a $2,000 bond at the Fairfax County Detention Center. An arraignment is scheduled for Friday morning.

Local police say they spotted West around 1 a.m. ET and attempted to serve a warrant. West allegedly fled and was found unresponsive after police lost track of him during the pursuit, per Holmes.

According to the Faifax County police, West was administered Narcan — which is used to treat overdoses — but it didn’t have the desired effect. Narcan was administered a second time after West was transported to a hospital, and the second dose was effective.

The former St. Joseph’s guard discussed his struggles with bipolar disorder while he was playing and he has battled substance abuse in recent years, Holmes notes.

West, 40, played eight NBA seasons from 2004-12. In 432 career regular season games, he averaged 9.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.4 minutes per contest.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

• While the Celtics are the betting favorites to win the NBA Finals in 2023/24, ESPN’s panel of experts believes the Mavericks will emerge victorious and claim their second championship. Nine voters selected Dallas, with eight going for Boston, so it was a very slim margin.
• The Spanish basketball federation announced its preliminary 22-player roster ahead of the country’s Olympic qualifying tournament this summer, per Eurohoops. While the team features several former NBA players, Santi Aldama (Grizzlies) and Usman Garuba (Warriors) are the only two who finished the 2023/24 season on 15-man rosters. Former NBA guards Ricky Rubio and Sergio Rodriguez are among the noteworthy players who are not on Spain’s 22-man roster.
• Former NBA wing Mario Hezonja, who is on Croatia’s preliminary roster for its qualifying tournament in Greece, is nearing a contract extension with Real Madrid, per Ramón Álvarez de Mon of La Galerna (Twitter link). The fifth pick of the 2015 draft, Hezojna last played in the NBA in 2019/20. A report in March said the 29-year-old was “aggressively exploring” the viability of a return to the league.