Delonte West is seen panhandling by the side of the road in Virginia, more than ten years after he played with NBA legend LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers – and just weeks after he was rumored to be trying to make a comeback in basketball.
Over the weekend, video surfaced on social media depicting the struggling ex-NBA player panhandling on the side of the roadway in Alexandria, Virginia.
West, 38, was a two-year member of the Cavaliers’ roster and a former teammate of LeBron James.
He declared in April that he would be returning to basketball with The BIG3 (a 3-on-3 league involving former NBA players).
‘My dog Delonte, how you doing my brother?’ a fan says to the man assumed to be West in one video shared online. The remark from West was not audible.
The driver who shared the photos on Twitter appeared to be taken aback when he saw West on the side of the road.
‘It appears Delonte West was arrested two days ago on the Richmond highway in Virginia. What happened in such a flash? I thought they were attempting to get him into the Big3 league a few months ago,’ he tweeted.
West last played for the Dallas Mavericks, a franchise controlled by Mark Cuban, but it was believed that he would return to the NBA after more than a decade away.
The Big 3 League recruits players who are nearing their 40th birthday and includes seasoned players who are no longer sought after by the NBA.
Ice Cube launched the 3-3 basketball league in 2017, which consists of 12 teams and frequently invites former NBA players to bolster its rosters.
In terms of West’s problems, this isn’t the first time he’s been seen on the streets asking for money.
Photos of West panhandling at a crossroads in Dallas, Texas circulated in September 2020.
West, who has openly battled bipolar disorder, was picked up from a local gas station by Cuban. Cuban paid for West’s drug rehabilitation program as well as a hotel room for him to remain in.
However, a source told DailyMail.com that West has gone to treatment at least three occasions since then and has walked out each time.
A brief video of West’s meeting with Cuban went viral, prompting fans and friends to call for the former star to seek help, as has been a sad but common occurrence for him.
The latest video was released less than two years after another viral video showed West being beaten up on a Maryland highway.
West first made headlines in 2004 as part of a Saint Joseph’s team that went 27-0 in the regular season and won a top seed in the NCAA tournament before falling in the Elite 8 to Oklahoma State.
He was then picked in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, then in 2008, he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as a starter alongside LeBron James.
After that, West bounced about the NBA, playing in the D-League and even signing with a Chinese team, but his mental health troubles began to dominate his career.
He was arrested in 2009 while riding a three-wheeled motorcycle, and authorities discovered three guns on his person. He eventually pleaded guilty to weapon charges and was sentenced to psychological counseling, probation, and community service, among other things.
A photo of him panhandling in suburban Washington, D.C. surfaced in 2016, although it was never confirmed that he was homeless at the time.
West was spotted roaming through Houston sans shoes four years ago, according to Complex Sports.
West earned more than $16 million in his nine-year NBA career, which ended after his single season with the Mavericks in 2011-2012, when he was only 28 years old.