Delonte West doesn't sound like he's doing well...

[Bankshot]

Oh, I remember those years, and I always said he wasn't funny, but was an idiot.  I guess I was proven right.

Having a medical condition doesn't make you an idiot.

Yeah, but he either didn't have the illness then, or we didn't know about it.  What people thought was funny then, I thought was stupid. I have no clue why people thought he was funny.  He sounded then like he was either an idiot or had serious problems. And when I said so, I was blasted.

[ManUp]

That interview made West sound off his rocker, it had a creepy vibe to it.

I also really like him and hope he gets better.

[Kuberski33]

Here's a guess.  It's the same concept as the colleges that put up with all the off the court crap because the star can put a ball in the hoop and fannies in the seats.  In this case, the Cavs are on the hook for his salary so they're trying to get what they can out of him instead of shelving him and getting him some real help.

If your neighbor got picked up with a knife and 3 loaded weapons on him late at night, how would you feel about having him still be on the streets, much less next door to you?  The Cavs and NBA better hope this doesn't blow up on them because Delonte strikes me as powder keg with the potential to go off at any time.

He should not be playing right now.

[Brickowski]

Delonte is the NBA's Jimmy Piersall and he will get through this if he can find a good psychopharmacologist.

[Neurotic Guy]

Bipolar, when at either the depressive or manic peaks is often associated with delusional/psychotic thinking.  To try to make sense of 1+1=2 may be an exersize in futility.

That said, no one can excuse the firearm business or any act that harms others -- but this is a time for prevention of more serious (usually self-injurious) behaviors by being compassionate and by realizing that this mental illness is a disease and is not reflective of a lack of intelligence or goodness/badness, but of an unhealthy mind that requires support and the right treatments.

As a quick FYI, unfortunately it takes many folks with bipolar many years to come to grips with the illness and to accept the treatments -- usually the results of the untreated disease are self-destructive (impaired relationships, lost jobs, etc) rather than harm to others.  

He is much more likely to be in denial about the illness (and the need for treatment) than to be using it as an excuse.

[Finkelskyhook]

Time for some true accountability for his crime....Then address his so-called mental illness.

[Brickowski]

My guess is that the weapons were the result of paranoia.  He wasn't out to hurt someone, he was protecting himself from being hurt.  I further surmise that he was carrying the weapons because some former pals wanting him to spread a little of his wealth around, and then threatened him when he refused to do so.

[Prof. Clutch]

It's hard to tell what's going on in the head these days of Delonte West. But FanHouse wanted to give Cleveland's mercurial guard an opportunity to explain some of his recent doings. . . .


"One plus one is two and C always comes out to A and B,'' West said to FanHouse.
West, who hadn't spoken to reporters since media day Sept. 28, was asked what that meant.

"One plus one always be two,'' he said.

West again was asked to clarify.

"One plus one always be two, brother,'' he said.

West declined further comment.

Later in the day, West was put on the inactive list for Wednesday night's game against Orlando at Amway Arena. A Cavaliers insider said that an incident happened that was called not major but the team decided it was best to give West the night off.

Link

Basically, the guy is killing his reputation, and his career along with it.  I'm not sure what the "incident" was, but giving interviews like this just make him sound like he's out of his mind.  It's sad to see; I like Delonte, and wish him the best.  I just hope that he's taking this more seriously than it seems from afar.

A few thoughts.  Roy, thanks for posting this story.  I'm always interested to hear what going on with Delonte, because of the history he has with the Celts, I'll always be rooting for him.  He truly seemed like a good guy to me, and I think he's suffering from some pretty difficult things.  Though he does have a history of saying strange things, the interview Delonte gave was just particularly eerie.  It was the only chance he's had to put a narrative to his recent struggles and clarify some things.  Instead of saying, "no comment," or "I'm not comfortable talking about it," if he wasn't ready to talk about it, or explaining thing if he was comfortable talking about his situation, he said something completely incomprehensible.  It screams of something really strange and bad going on to me.  Its just not a good sign.

I remember Scintan.  What about Big John? Remember him?  He loved Delonte, but hated Pierce and wanted to trade Pierce for Tyson Chandler.lol

Scintan, Big John.  Uh oh, you guys are gonna open the floodgates of historical c'blog names that have faded into the distance.  This thread is gonna get highjacked so quickly it will need to be renamed "From Crotor to Sexy Scottish to Celticsthug, where are they now?"

You know who I was thinking about recently (although he wasn't from the old old days) was Allaboutthegreen.  Remember his signature of Brian Scalabrine staring in awe ate a deli sandwich.  I still get a laugh out of that.  He hasn't been on in a while.

If we could get his email address or some way to contact him, I think it'd be cool for people on Celtics fans to show their support.

This is actually a really good and thoughtful idea.  TP.

[PierceMVP08]

Time for some true accountability for his crime....Then address his so-called mental illness.

I agree that it is dangerous for him or anybody to be carrying around weapons but have you considered that this behavior was caused by the illness that you disregard.  Beyond sport or anything (I really enjoyed having him on the celts btw) he is a human being who is distress.  This whole American culture or rugged individualism in the long run hurts us individually and as a whole.  The man needs help, not to be thrown to the dogs.  In the long run, helping him improve from his condition will reduce the chancese of him committing a crime much more than punishing him.  By treating the condition you remove the cause of the problem.  Besides, I'm sure medical treatment and therapy are more than punishment enough.

[PierceMVP08]

If we could get his email address or some way to contact him, I think it'd be cool for people on Celtics fans to show their support.

This is actually a really good and thoughtful idea.  TP.
[/quote]

I also really like this idea.  Even if we can't get his email is there any other way of getting this to him?  Quite possibly extending a bit (very small) of an olive branch to the cavs and contacting them directly.  I dont care for any of their players but Delonte has always felt like a Celtic to me.

[Finkelskyhook]

His so-called illness is irrelevent.  I disregard it because firstly, I don't believe in it.  Business is slow...So an industry changes the name of an old condition and all of a sudden that crooked industry has 10 times the people "suffering" from the "condition"?  Sorry.  I don't buy it.  I'm tired of people rationalizing dangerous behavior to hypotheses.  

Punish the behavior.  See what actual accountability accomplishes.  Then treat the so-called "condition".  I'll bet you won't have to.

Geez.

[Evantime34]

His so-called illness is irrelevent.  I disregard it because firstly, I don't believe in it.  Business is slow...So an industry changes the name of an old condition and all of a sudden that crooked industry has 10 times the people "suffering" from the "condition"?  Sorry.  I don't buy it.  I'm tired of people rationalizing dangerous behavior to hypotheses.  

Punish the behavior.  See what actual accountability accomplishes.  Then treat the so-called "condition".  I'll bet you won't have to.

Geez.

He has BI-POLAR disorder! You can't be serious. Are you from the school of thought that thinks depression isn't a disease? I think you were referring to depression when you said " Business is slow...So an industry changes the name of an old condition and all of a sudden that crooked industry has 10 times the people "suffering" from the "condition"?" Even if you think this of depression (which is an extremely outdated way to think) you have to admit that BI-Polar disorder is a whole different much more dangerous animal.

[PierceMVP08]

His so-called illness is irrelevent.  I disregard it because firstly, I don't believe in it.  Business is slow...So an industry changes the name of an old condition and all of a sudden that crooked industry has 10 times the people "suffering" from the "condition"?  Sorry.  I don't buy it.  I'm tired of people rationalizing dangerous behavior to hypotheses.  

Simply because it did not "exist" previously does not mean it is not an actual condition.  Medicine is getting better.  We are able to detect new conditions that we could not before.  It does not mean they are not real.  One day we did not know about cancer yet is it real today or was it just invented?  I'm sure all this swine flu is a crock invented to increase profits as well.  Unless you are a doctor you have no basis on which to refute the validity of the illness. Your assetions smack of arrogance and, well, lets say being uninformed.

Geez

[Finkelskyhook]

Talk about a crooked and corrupt industry...Can you say Attention Deficit disorder...The biggest fraud in the history of the medical field?   How many people have been overmedicated and turned into zombies by this recent "discovery". 

Are you from the school of thought that thinks depression isn't a disease?

Cancer is disease.  Depression is a condition.  Bipolar is a theory...And not a very old one.

None of this rationalizes endangering people by carrying weapons into  an airport.  I like Delonte.  I love his game.  He must face consequences for endangering the lives of so many people.  Stop rationalizing the behavior.  Or it will repeat itself. 

[crownsy]

His so-called illness is irrelevent.  I disregard it because firstly, I don't believe in it.  Business is slow...So an industry changes the name of an old condition and all of a sudden that crooked industry has 10 times the people "suffering" from the "condition"?  Sorry.  I don't buy it.  I'm tired of people rationalizing dangerous behavior to hypotheses. 

Simply because it did not "exist" previously does not mean it is not an actual condition.  Medicine is getting better.  We are able to detect new conditions that we could not before.  It does not mean they are not real.  One day we did not know about cancer yet is it real today or was it just invented?  I'm sure all this swine flu is a crock invented to increase profits as well.  Unless you are a doctor you have no basis on which to refute the validity of the illness. Your assetions smack of arrogance and, well, lets say being uninformed.

Geez

Do we really have to have this debate between those who mock the mentally ill and think mental illness is a personal weakness and cop out vs. People who have been hurt personally by it in their family and have a strong opinion YET AGAIN?

This developed into a nasty argument last time it came up in a thread, and it will again, mark my words.

On topic, Delonte's illness didn't "suddenly" appear. It's been an open secret since his college days that he suffers from bi-polar. It shouldn't excuse his behavior, but to ignore the fact that he has such a condition and dismiss it as him trying to claim it as a cop out shows ignorance, a lack of understanding, and is beneath celtics blog posters IMO.

It's a factor in the case and charges against him. certainly not a big enough one to excuse liability for riding around town with guns on your back of course, but it's no different than any other medical condition, despite the feelings of some on this blog that its made up junk.