Former NBA star struggles with addiction and homelessness

Former NBA prima Delonte West (40) is surviving a beingness that fewer tin imagine. He erstwhile earned millions and played with the biggest names successful the league, including LeBron James successful Cleveland, and present helium tin beryllium seen connected the streets virtually begging for food. His vocation spanned clubs similar Boston, Dallas and Cleveland, and helium earned a full of astir $16 million.

West's communicative is tragic due to the fact that helium was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and aft his hoops vocation ended, his beingness led him into vices and addiction. Problems with money, intoxicant and drugs led him to homelessness and repeatedly brought him into struggle with the law. One of those moments was recorded erstwhile helium participated successful a thoroughfare fight, and erstwhile a passerby asked him if helium was a erstwhile NBA star, West coldly replied: "I'm not successful that beingness anymore."

Fighting demons

American billionaire and proprietor of Dallas, Mark Cuban, has agelong tried to assistance West. "We instrumentality him to rehab successful Florida, and helium takes things, throws them implicit the obstruction and disappears," Cuban recalled. For respective years, helium tried to get West backmost connected his feet, helium adjacent got him a job, but the addiction was stronger than thing else. Cuban points out: "He's sick, helium has bipolar disorder. It's a conflict for him. Addiction is simply a horrible thing. And intelligence unwellness is horrible. He has to privation assistance first. I've tried that. I cognize it's hard for him, but I privation him thing but the best."

Today, Delonte West is simply a awesome of the bittersweet broadside of the lives of celebrated athletes who, contempt an unthinkable vocation and wealth, tin extremity up wholly lost. His beingness is simply a reminder of however important it is to admit intelligence unwellness and however hard the combat against vice is, adjacent for those who erstwhile had it all. His communicative attracted the attraction of the nationalist and the media, and fans are inactive trying to recognize however idiosyncratic who played connected the biggest NBA floors could extremity up connected the street.