Friday, September 18, 2009

This is gonna be one weird season

At this point, Delonte West is a freaking cartoon character:
Cavaliers guard Delonte West is facing weapons charges after being pulled over on his motorcycle while carrying a small arsenal near his Maryland home late Thursday night.

Prince George's County police said West was carrying two concealed handguns and a shotgun when he was pulled over on Interstate 495 near his offseason home in Brandywine, Md. around 10 p.m. Corporal Clinton Copeland said West was speeding and cut off a police cruiser while riding on his three-wheeled 2009 Can-Am Spyder motorcycle.

After being stopped West informed police he was carrying a gun in his waistband, which was a 9mm Beretta. Police also found a Ruger .357 strapped to his leg and a shotgun inside a guitar case that was slung over his back. West was traveling alone.
A shotgun in a freaking guitar case. On a three wheeled motorcycle. What. The. Fuck. The legend of Delonte West grows and grows.

But in all seriousness, as much as I wanna make Antonio Banderas jokes, you gotta wonder whats going on and hope everything is alright (West has a history with depression). Obviously, I hope everything is on the up and up (I mean, it's not like like these guys aren't targets), but carrying three weapons (and getting arrested for it) will (deservedly) raise a few questions.

Cavalier players have been in the news a lot lately, but not for basketball reasons. LeBron has a book tour and two movies, Cavalier Center Shaquille O'Neal (it still hasn't really sunk in that Shaq is here yet) has his reality show, Mo Williams made a commercial and Delonte released his (in)famous KFC rap video.

Meanwhile, experts are picking the Cavaliers to win the East. I'll wish good luck to reigning NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown. Brown gets the luxury of coaching not only the most talented Cleveland team of my lifetime, but also the one with the most expectations and pressure to win (especially with LeBron's looming free agency).

Training camp starts in less than 10 days.

2 comments:

Erik said...

Windy's article on Sunday is eye-opening. It sounds like handling Delonte is a juggling act.

Stick a camera on him, and he becomes the Delonte we all know and love. But there is a behind-the-scenes Delonte that is much darker and moodier.

It seems like he often needs plenty of space as he goes through his various phases and mood swings. Because he brings so much to the team, the Cavs are willing to work with him. A lesser player wouldn't be worth the trouble.

But this gun charge is something else altogether. This puts a whole new level of strain on Delonte's relationship with the Cavs.

He's headed for a trip through the legal system, is going to face some kind of punitive measures from the authorities, up to and possibly including jail time. The NBA will probably hand him some kind of suspension and fine, and the Cavs are going to find themselves under pressure to take their own punitive/corrective steps.

It's like being in a relationship with a friend or significant other who is unstable. You might love the person dearly, but sooner or later the extracurricular stuff is too much to handle and you have to part ways.

Regrettably, at some point, the Cavs might decide that they just can't continue on with Delonte. Hopefully not anytime soon, but that day might be coming.

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