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Delonte West, the Mavericks guard and most interesting man in basketball, has been suspended for “conduct detrimental to the team,” ESPN reports. Coach Rick Carlisle isn’t specifying why, nor has he laid out a timetable for West’s return.
The suspension came after the Mavs’ preseason win over Houston Monday, in which West had two points, two assists and one rebound over 16 minutes. Some unspecified incident followed in the locker room.
ESPN says West tweeted later that day, “Sorry moma…” and “I showed off on ur birthday again…” Those tweets have apparently since been removed from his feed, which is arguably the best feed in the history of Twitter.
The episode has prompted sports journos to speculate about whether West’s bipolar disorder is involved. Matt Moore, senior blogger over at CBSsports.com, chimed in with this gem: “The temptation is to connect or assign this to his previously revealed bipolar disorder, but there’s nothing about the condition which makes it impossible for him to control his behavior or act professionally.”
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We’re not sure how much Moore knows about the disorder, but an inability to control one’s behavior is absolutely one of its hallmarks. Bipolar disorder is characterized by swings between manic highs (sometimes with attendant hallucinations) and debilitating depression. Even when properly medicated, his condition can be difficult to control.
Moore’s commenters are currently excoriating him for the comment, so we won’t pile on any further. We do note that one of them points out, astutely, that the Mavs may be trying to gain leverage over West.
We hope management isn’t trying to put him out to pasture. West — a guy who isn’t very tall, and isn’t very beefy — has nonetheless proven himself a tough, effective role player on every team for which he’s played. Mavs basketball is more fun with CharleeRedz on the roster.
But, as he would say, “You already know!”
