What Happened to LeBron’s Ex-Teammate Delonte West?

Yet basketball never left him. His early promise carried him to Saint Joseph’s University, where he and Jameer Nelson turned out to be strong contenders in college hoops during their 2004 run. That same year, the Boston Celtics selected him with the 24th pick in the first round of the NBA Draft, giving him his start in the league. West spent four seasons in Boston over two separate stints, showing flashes of toughness and versatility.

His journey later took him through several franchises: a three-year stretch with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the start of his friendship with LeBron, and finally a season with the Dallas Mavericks from 2011 to 2012.

Delonte West: From NBA Courts to Personal Struggles

Delonte West entered the league in 2004 as the 24th overall pick by the Boston Celtics. He quickly earned a reputation as a tough guard who could defend, pass, and score when needed.

In his eight NBA seasons, West averaged 9.7 points, 3.6 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game. He was never a superstar, but he was reliable. With Cleveland, he started next to LeBron James and helped the Cavaliers reach the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. West’s best individual year came in 2006-07 with the Celtics, when he averaged 12.2 points and 4.4 assists. Later, with the Dallas Mavericks, he played a steady veteran role before leaving the league in 2012. On the court, he was respected for his toughness and versatility. Off the court, however, bigger battles were waiting.

Delonte West: Personal Struggles and Challenges

The same year Delonte joined the Cavs, with the hopes of forming a long-term career, he was hit with a tragedy. He separated from his first wife around the same time, and doctors diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. This was a long culmination of a wounded childhood.

Things spiraled further in September 2009. Police in Fort Washington, Maryland, pulled West over for a traffic violation and found three loaded guns in a guitar case with him. He was sentenced to eight months of home detention, two months of probation, and 40 hours of community service after pleading guilty to two charges. It looked like his earnings were being drained out in legal fights.

By the end of his career, West’s struggles had taken a visible toll. During the 2011 NBA lockout, he was back home in Brandywine, Maryland, working in a furniture store to make ends meet. After the lockout, he joined the Dallas Mavericks, but a pair of preseason incidents led to his release before the 2012-13 season. He never returned to the NBA.

Delonte West: Homelessness and Public Struggles

After his diagnosis, West tried to explain what bipolar disorder meant to him: “I am bipolar, just like the rest of us in the world. 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?”

Sadly, he couldn’t handle it well. After his career ended, West’s money was gone quickly. Legal issues followed, and so did worrying public sightings. In 2016, a photo of West surfaced in Maryland showing him homeless and begging for money. In 2020, more pictures of West panhandling appeared online. This time, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stepped in. He picked West up personally and paid for his rehab treatment. By early 2021, West had a job at the facility and seemed to be recovering.

But the progress didn’t hold. In July 2022, he was again seen asking for money on the streets. Later that year, he was arrested on misdemeanor charges. In 2024, police found him unresponsive from a drug overdose. He survived, but the incident showed how fragile his condition remained.

Now, in 2025, another video spread online. A family filmed him for their son, who idolized West, as they handed him twenty dollars. West looked distant, unfazed, a shell of the NBA guard he once was. As Mark had said in 2023, “lots of guys wanted to help him, he just couldn’t help himself.”

Delonte West: Efforts for Rehabilitation and Support

Cuban called watching West’s struggles “brutal” and said, “I thought we had him turned around. Only so much you can do … Mental illness is real, and you don’t just wish it away. You don’t just rehab it away.” As West appeared in the public eye, he was just as invisible. His struggles were not seen. Despite support from James, Jameer Nelson, it seemed as though he had failed.

Delonte West: Recent Developments

The resurfacing of West in 2025, while heartbreaking for fans, serves as a stark reminder that mental health issues have been the single most significant factor in his life’s trajectory. His most recent spotting, following the 2024 drug overdose, visually confirms that his condition remains extremely fragile, highlighting the critical importance of continuous, long-term support systems. As his former supporter Mark Cuban noted, “Mental illness is real, and you don’t just wish it away.”

West’s story is not only a tragedy of personal loss but a powerful, ongoing case study on the pressures athletes endure and the human battles that continue to rage off the court.