Who is the former NBA player who became homeless and was arrested

Delonte West was a shooting guard in the NBA for eight seasons, playing for the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks – but he developed drug addiction, bipolar disorder, became homeless and was arrested on the 2nd.

West was accused of trespassing on a property in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States, and was arrested after refusing to leave a private area he couldn’t access, according to TMZ. Delonte posted $1,000 bail and was released from jail, still needing to return to court for a hearing.

This was not the first arrest in West’s life. The former player had already been arrested in 2009 for illegal possession of multiple firearms. At the time, he still played basketball, ending his professional career only in 2015, when he played for the Texas Legends, a team in the NBA’s development league.

Since then, West’s addiction, depression and bipolar disorder have worsened, leading him to live on the streets just a year after his retirement. His situation was discovered when a passerby recognized him and photographed him next to a fast food restaurant.

Delonte was next seen asking for money on an avenue in Dallas in 2020, the same year he entered a rehab clinic in Florida. The decision to enter the clinic was made after Mavericks owner Mark Cuban approached the former player’s family and offered help with drug addiction treatment.

Delonte’s history with the sport began to be leveraged in 2004, when he was chosen by the Boston Celtics in 24th position in the Draft, which selects young people from college basketball or foreign championships to join NBA franchises.

After the Celtics, he played for the now-defunct Seattle SuperSonics, Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers, even playing alongside LeBron James. His departure from the NBA took place in 2012, when he joined Chinese basketball teams Fujian Xunxing and Shanghai Sharks, before retiring three years later.

Retired after 432 games, West had around R$93 million in salary, according to the newspaper Marca.