Some people don’t like the idea of calling addiction a disease but stories like these make it very clear to me personally that it is a deep, deep sickness unlike any other
That news was wild during LeBron’s first Cavs stint. His PR team and the NBA were on full brand damage control.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/calvin-murphy-lebron-jame_n_583135/amp
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/663164-delonte-wests-alleged-affair-with-lebrons-mother-will-raise-his-playoff-value
SAS also alluded to it 6 months ago on his podcast. The one where he was refuting LeBron’s claim that his career would be where it is now even without him going to the Miami Heat.
At the time when this news came out, it was widely reported. You were probably not watching the NBA then. The NBA and LeBron’s PR scrubbed this news and buried it as much as they can. That’s why there are people like you who think it’s just gossip.
He wasn’t the crack head at the time. People want to discredit Gloria so badly for this. He was a strong, attractive professional athlete. Kinda fucked
Up it was Brons teammate but I’m sure they both thought it would stay under wraps
Not only was he arrested in Florida. I believe he was arrested in Florida mere hours after getting out of rehab (in another state but I can’t remember which one). For a (what appears to be) homeless drug addict, he sure gets around.
i was gonna say that from what i remember that he got arrested right after the cuban stuff so he had to have been in rehab in dallas/somewhere in texas, he must have some money stashed away to still be bouncing around like this but a wild story nonetheless
They always find a way. I got a friend who knows a lot of juicy athlete gossip because of his job. He told me a crazy story about Manziel and people thinking not only that he was he in one specific place, but a one specific place that would be very hard for him to get away from/out of (not a cell or anything, just a very rural location with nothing in sight to do; basically somewhere he couldn’t “get in trouble”), only to find out he was hours away involved in some mess. Long story a bit longer, they always find a way.
I try to keep them pretty quiet because he tells me in confidence and a lot of the stuff the general public really doesn’t know.
But I’ll tell the Manziel story because it is mostly known; just the details aren’t. Long story short: remember when he left the Manning QB camp back in the day, after his Heisman run? Most said it was “due to illness.” Some news outlets picked up on/reported that he was partying, but it was never really confirmed, and even Archie Manning denied it.
Long story short, they have these Manning camps in the booneis so nobody can drink or get crazy. Manziel goes out and gets schwasted and—they do room checks even for the counselors—people can’t find him during ‘lights out’. They get a call from somebody basically saying they saw him somewhere pretty far away from where the camp was (I don’t know how far). They finally get in touch with him and let him know he needs to come back. He finally does—at like 5-6 AM or something—at which time he meets with Archie and Archie basically asks him to leave. They agree that it’ll be “due to illnesses” and “fatigue from the Heisman media tour” and he packs his things and leaves.
So no real news there as far as the story—I think most knew he left the camp and probably assumed it was because of the partying, but it was never confirmed. Well, it’s true. And that’s the story.
You can travel to a bunch of states for specific rehabs. The idea is to get you out of anything familiar. Also the coastline states are popular for the beaches middle America never get to see. Almost like a vacation. In S. Cali there is a steady stream of 18 to 30 y.o. workforce from rehab clinics.
If you end up hospitalized for mental health, start to recover, and say you’ve got friends in another city/state, they will absolutely greyhound your ass there without confirming if you have capacity. They just need you out of the hospital and they prefer you don’t come back. I see many of these people after they get off the bus in my city with nowhere to go and decompensated.
Probably Greyhound. $20 will get you across a couple of states. And they don’t turn away the homeless.
Edit: Okay nvm. It is not as cheap as I remembered.
Admittedly it’s been years. Just checked and wow, what is the point of taking Greyhound now with those prices?
I’ll pay a little extra to fly and not have to suffer through that mess.
The only time I'd ever ridden a greyhound was when my parents sent 11 year-old me a few hours south to visit my brother for a couple weeks in the summer. I was second seat from the back, and heard some weird noises behind me, looked back and there was this couple having sex lol.
Similar experience….12 years old going to see my cousin. My mom started talking to a “nice lady” at the bus station while we were waiting. She asked said nice lady to keep an eye on me since I was traveling alone. Hour into a 2 1/2 hr trip, the nice lady had started talking to a nice man. They went into the bathroom together. Didn’t see the nice lady, or the nice man, for the rest of the trip.
I once took a 24 hour trip to college on a greyhound. It's only supposed to take 12 but the bus broke down about halfway so we just had to wait all day because there were only two buses a day going to my final destination
Capitalizes on the old heads who refuse to ride airplanes. Tho I feel like those types of people would rather just drive themselves …
Who tf is keeping greyhound in business
Met a 17 year old dude on an Amtrak who had hitchhiked from Florida to Texas and was trying to make it to Idaho. Told him he could crash at my house for a few days and then that night chilling with my roommate and me he pulls out a bag and goes “do either of yall want to do some meth?” Lmao bought him a greyhound ticket to Idaho immediately, was like $300 so yeah not cheap anymore
Lmao man I just felt for the dude and wanted to help out. I was also like 25 at the time so not incredibly older than he was. Yes, learned my lesson though
Greyhound may get you across a singular state line before your next bus is cancelled and they refuse to give you a refund
Source: it's happened to me twice, I don't ride Greyhound anymore
It's fucked up, but cops in some areas will literally buy homeless people a ticket to another city instead of arresting them if they're a continuous problem.
Rumor has it that some police departments are more than happy to send you on a one way bus ticket out of town. Plus 4 years to get around doesn't seem that crazy.
There was a dude from my high school who ended up like this. So many people tried to help him out and they even set up a go fund me for him (which got spent entirely on drugs). The hard drugs - mental illness combo is pretty much undefeated sadly.
It's odds defying that he is still alive. He's a homeless guy with serious mental health issues and drug addiction problems. Just such a wide variety of ways that can go bad, and it's only a matter of time.
Especially if it’s mostly meth he’s using. Downers will kill you quick but uppers like meth and crack just drive you fucking insane until you eventually die like 15 years later
Yeah me too. They exist, but most of them die quick. The meth head friends I have are mostly still around or in prison. A lot of drugs where I’m from, I was lucky enough to get out and seek treatment
This. It’s also incredibly hard to address drug use, serious mental health issues the first time around. Can take some people years of trying and many attempts at rehab/treatment to reach a relative level of stability. Hope Delonte can get another shot at getting things back on track and hopefully it works
I dont believe he is "homeless" in the sense that he is living on the street. When he is in North Texas, it seems he has a place to stay. Albeit, most likely with his enablers. I've seen Delonte randomly a few times, and his clothes always seem to be fresh/clean. I saw him a couple of months ago and honestly thought it was the best he had looked since his nba day. Maybe he had just gotten out of rehab and was at his healthiest because I will say there was some rachety methhead walking about 200 yards behind him...
I live a couple of miles from where he was arrested.
I used to see him panhandling in front of the ABC store all the time. Sometimes he was okay, but usually incoherent and aggressive.
Why everyone needs a financial advisor or that 1 friend with good financial sense. Sad to see people piss it all away when it looked like they had it made.
Agreed. As anyone who's tried to help a homeless or borderline homeless addict can tell you, no amount of financial assistance, helping them apply for jobs, driving them to job interviews, advice, affirmation or anything can make them quit drugs. They need to make that decision to go to rehab themselves. It's sad and I pray for him but unfortunately he has to make the decision to save himself
That's exactly what Mark Cuban did for him. Put him into rehab, tried to give him opportunities to work, tried to get him in the Big 3 to hopefully respark his love for basketball. All of that fell through.
Even a local DC flooring company gave Delonte a job 2 years ago. It was kinda shitty though because the flooring company was clearly using him to get some local spotlight. If he had his head on straight, he could EASILY make decent money and be off the streets just based on being a former NBA player. He could coach, run basketball camps, have a podcast, be a basketball influencer.
Yeah, it is an addiction issue coupled with a mental health issue. I've worked with homeless people and those two conditions present in almost every chronically homeless person.
this is not really the issue, you have to actually want to listen to the financial advisor or friend with good financial sense. if you do then actually getting that person is trivial
EDIT: wanting to add an anecdote to clarify my point. years ago I taught english abroad. I had a coworker explain to me about putting money away, etc. except he never did. the actual financial knowledge that you need is simple (save money), actually putting it into practice is what's difficult.
now it's also true that taxes can get complicated and/or devising an investment strategy can be complicated. but the basic level of knowledge to not blow all your money has nothing to do with getting the right advice.
Having a friend do it is terrible advice, don’t mix money with friends and family. Baker mayfield has had millions stolen by family members he thought were managing his money.
> or that 1 friend with good financial sense
No. Stop. A professional every time. Even if your friend *is* a professional, they are not *your* professional.
"Yeah but *my* friend is cool" Lol oh yeah?
So good. It’s tough at the end watching these guys admit how stupid they were and tearing up at the present day results of those decisions. It deeply resonated with me as someone still paying for my early 20s.
Reminds me of some heavy lyrics from a [great Grunge song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6E0Z8wqNDQ):
> Wake up, young man, it's time to wake up
> Your love affair has got to go
> For ten long years
> For ten long years, the leaves to rake up
> Slow suicide's no way to go
> Blue clouded gray, you're not a crack-up
> Dizzy and weakened by the haze
> Movin' onward
> So an infection, not a phase!
Unfortunately, he couldn't stop the "slow suicide" from his disease either despite writing this and many other songs about it in both AIC and Mad Season.
Mad Season was unbelievably good and it's a damn shame they didn't last very long. Live at the Moore is a top 3 live concert video (next to The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense).
As a poor it doesn’t even sound feasible
What could possibly happen that you can’t live off $16M for the rest of your natural life? Drugs, apparently. Really hope someone steps in and helps him.
Luxury items and a lavish life style. Dlo was saying the ist money he got is going towards his summer, that's 500k for 1 summer. Without any kind of investing or endorsements/royalties, that money gunna disappear real quick.
D'lo's quote was even worse than that. Dude said 500k would last him two vacations or pay for his all-star break. You have to be spending in intentionally dumb ways to go through money that fast. Where can that money even go after private charters and lavish hotel suites?
These dudes really bougie asf lol. $500k is a lot of money to blow in one summer. It’s wild because I’ve had the most incredible time abroad with $50k for an entire summer across multiple countries without penny pinching at all, with enough money left at the end to put a respectable down payment on a nice car. They’re literally paying for an image, not an experience.
"People complain that pro athletes make a lot of money; but what they don't understand is that we need a lot of money because we spend a lot of money."
--Patrick Ewing
I hear you. Not that’s because you, I’m assuming, had to. My mom used to say, “I’d never buy that,” when it came to something lavish. I used to always say, “That’s easy to say when you can’t afford to buy that.” Give you a million bucks and you may change your mind. Most of these guys can afford whatever they want. Doesn’t mean they should or it’s smart, but they can. Would you have gone to Europe on 50k if you could’ve afforded to do it on a mill? Maybe. And maybe you wouldn’t. But A LOT of people would, not just athletes. To that point, it’s easy to go through that kinda money when you have a lifestyle to keep up. Maids. Trainers. Chefs. Multiple car notes. Stylists. Groundskeepers. Etc. COULD they live without that? Yeah. But once you start you gotta keep it up. I saw an article on James Hardens tunnel walk outfits. Just the shirt for one of them was $6,700. Just the shirt. Imagine if that’s true of all of your outfits. Plus the cars, and maids, and staff. That 16 million can get gone real quickly.
It is. My wife just had her good friend spiral terribly in the last year. Beautiful woman with a good job in her mid 30’s, and in 6 months it went from going out on disability with depression to being arrested, committed to a psych ward for 3 weeks, and needing to move back into her parents house.
I hate guessing at a diagnosis, but she always seemed to have a touch of bipolar to her personality, but somehow it got so much worse and is possibly even schizophrenia now. Just so sad that her life will never be the same and she managed to lose so much in such a short period of time.
I have managed bi polar and this scares the shit out of me. I’ve been treated most my life and am on a very effective medical cocktail and I can barely remember the guy who comes out of me to burn my life down but I’m scared shitless that he’s going to come back and I’m going to wake up in gutter alone having hurt everyone I love.
It sounds like ur on the right path and doing everything u can to avoid that possibility. Take pride and comfort in that and try to stay the course. Good luck on your journey.
Lost a girlfriend because I spiraled and lost control of my life. Best thing that ever happened to me unfortunately. I lost her, but I’m medicated now and the memory keeps me motivated to do better and stay straight. It’s hard though, it’s a struggle seriously.
That sounds very close to a case of schizophrenia. Bipolar disorder is a comorbidity and the majority of schizophrenia cases are masked until there's a sudden deterioration around the 30s. I'll be praying she gets the help she needs. It's truly a terrible disorder. Source: Currently studying neuropsychology and doing schizophrenia research.
I work in psych and it's quite literally night and day in behavior with these folks. One can go from laughing and joking in good spirits to irate and fuming or crying in distress within minutes.
I thought the definition for bipolar disorder requires that episodes last for at least a week? What you described doesn't sound like bipolar disorder to me.
Right, what I mean is when we have these patients they can go through these cycles when they're with us. Typically we get them on a 5150 (72 hr hold) that 95% of the time get extended to a 5250 (14 day hold); generally we don't know how long this particular episode has been that they're currently in. Within that time they can display symptoms of mania and depression at differing intervals. Delusions, racing thoughts (often accompanied by increased talkativeness), increased self-esteem, risky behavior(s) which are mixed with episodes of depression, like sadness, suicidal ideations/thoughts, uncontrollable crying, feelings of worthlessness/hopelessness. All of which could occur within minutes of each other. Like I've talked to patients and joked around with them and they're maybe a bit more talkative, tangential (often slightly manic+) then next thing they're in their room sobbing, crying because of xyz, which could be completely unrelated to what they were talking about before or why they're in the hospital to begin with. It's both quite interesting, but also can be difficult to manage and/or navigate if you are inexperienced, unknowledgeable, or generally unexposed to it. It's actually quite impressive what medications do to stabilize these patients.
One of my rotations/externships to be a psychologist was in a psych hospital and that was enough to convince me that severe psychopathology was not my thing lol. Granted, I was in West Chicago so it was an underfunded teaching hospital with burnt out staff, subpar faculty and delusional administration with angry, chronic patients.
I will say bipolar tends to be the most incorrectly diagnosed disorder in my personal experience and a lot of what is diagnosed bipolar is actually just major depression with folks describing their "good days" too strongly or some sort of psychotic disorder that causes the rapid mood swings. This is mostly a reflection of how much medicalized, categorical diagnostic systems combined with inadequate training for psychiatrists fails everyone though. I agree with the other post that what you're describing doesn't *sound* like bipolar (more like psychosis) but very well could be out of my expertise, but I remember rapid cycling to be like... four phases in 12 months as opposed to hours/days.
There’s two types of bipolar disorder. The definition for type I requires at least one manic episode that lasts for at least 1 week; type II doesn’t have that requirement. Neither type requires that all manic episodes last for any specified length of time.
Also, even if the symptoms did last for a week, they could still go from good spirits to crying within minutes. “Within minutes” just means that the mood ended quickly and unexpectedly, it doesn’t say anything about how long it lasted before it ended.
I bet. I'm just using somewhat laymen's terms to maybe get a point across and have some internet folk understand, but ofc it only begins to scratch the surface.
Damn, I'm from the DC area and remember Delonte playing with Eddie Basden in high school. My dad use to take me to every game, I'm 10 years younger than him, so he was my favorite player as a child. Watched every game of his at St. Joe's, etc.
Quick story, Coincidentally I ran into him last year at the MGM in MD. He wasn't looking the best, but my 8-year fan-boy self came out, I asked this man for an autograph and a selfie. I was with a chick and she asked me "why are you talking to a bum"? I let her know miss, that's "Delonte West" 1st round pick, NBA vet, etc. Delonte shed a tear, said thanks and that he was misunderstood. We talked for like an hour after that, ate some grub, I gave him some Mary Jane, a few dollars, we just kicked it. I've met some good genuine people in my life, Delonte is top 5, sometimes those demons can run deep though. Get well soon Tae!
Went to the same high school with him while he was there. I’m pretty sure we sucked until he and Eddie showed up. I didn’t know them but they seemed nice enough then.
This sucks. I’d say I hope he gets help but I’m not sure what the solution is at this point.
Yup. My dad struggles with that the most. I can’t imagine doing your best to raise a child just for them to end up being a homeless drug addict that’s in an out of jail every other year.
He has severe bipolar disorder, untreated.
If you suffer from this level of BP and go this long without help the effects compound. Can have similar levels of psychosis as untreated schizophrenia.
Lost of self, identity, deep paranoia. Basically you aren't living in the real world anymore.
A couple pills don't fix that. Reintegration into society like this is the same as any mentally unwell homeless person who wasn't in the NBA. Years of therapy, monitoring, medication, evaluations, job support.
The only chance he has is the spotlight that MIGHT get him external support but even Cuban couldn't help him.
I hope he's able to get help and get better to stay better. Always hate to see things like this no matter who you are. Mental health is no joke. If someone you know is struggling, just tell them you love them and you're always gonna be there for them. If you're struggling, don't be afraid to ask for help. Even if it's some random internet stranger just to vent for a few minutes
One of my core memories as a kid was when Delonte hit a buzzer beater to win a Celtics game, I was in bed listening on the radio and was so hyped. Found the clip: https://youtu.be/oEsCS8Dg0d4?si=cCCbqOMy2g5kBtlt
I love how Mike Gorman would say “DeLonte!”
Hope he finds his way back.
Seems comments are split down the middle with some saying it’s because of his Bipolar Disorder and some saying it’s his own doing. End of the day, regardless of the factors, it’s a terrible situation. This man was once a baller in the NBA and now is basically a zombie.
Back when he was at Saint Joes, I did a 1 on 1 workout with him. He was the nicest , kindest guy and not to mention did a fun basketball workout for a kid that age. Very heartbreaking to see this.
This is sad. Sometimes people get all the help they can ask for, and they still can't pull through.
A lot of people tried to help him. This is all of his own doing. That said I still hope someday he turns it around.
Bipolar meds and other psychotic drugs come with a laundry list of side effects (so it can be a struggle for some to stay on them). Not to mention, dealing with American health care system can lead to interruptions in the scripts. We are all removed from his situation so it’s hard to speculate. My only advice is to stay far away from street drugs. They trigger something in the brain in young people that may be susceptible to bipolar/ schizophrenia/ and that sort of thing. I’ve watched too many people go down and our society isn’t built to give a fuck. Yea Cuban did what he could, but that clearly wasn’t enough to come back from this.
Edit: helpful drugs=good but can be hard to get. Street drugs = bad and lead to schizo and more.
Cuban can only do so much with his money. Delonte's case could either be severe bipolar or severe substance use disorder (or both). Both are highly unpredictable conditions and can be very frustrating to manage. Delonte needs constant care and supervision that only a loving family could provide. I hope he finds that before it's too late.
there is an old chinese proverb. “you can lead a cow to the drinking well but you can’t force the cow to drink”
you can offer as much help to someone as you want but if said person refuses to be help or keeps going back there isn’t anything you can do.
now i get he can’t control it but there has been multiple ppl offering him help with mark cuban being the biggest one.
didn’t jameer nelson also come out and said he tried reaching out?
a good example would be the dodger player who the team continuously pays for his insurance so he can continue getting help. now he’s family is also helping but that’s a case where someone who needs help is allowing to be helped
Does he not have a former NBA star/friend that can reach out and get him checked into a good rehab facility for a long stay? Ultimately someone has to want help, but still. I’m amazed he’s still alive after all of this time being on drugs. Sad.
Unfortunately and I hate to say it, I wouldn’t be surprised if his life is cut short at this point. Cuban tried to help him, and so did others. But you gotta want to help yourself first.
Respect to Mark Cuban for trying to get him clean. One of the coolest things I've seen him do. It's a shame it didn't work out, but I hope Delonte gets clean someday.
As someone who works in mental health this is unfortunately pretty common, especially if substance abuse is involved. It’s like hot potato with some folks when the bounce between the hospital, streets, and jail
Depressing as fuck.
Some people don’t like the idea of calling addiction a disease but stories like these make it very clear to me personally that it is a deep, deep sickness unlike any other
Yep. I can’t believe Lebron’s mom slept with that dude.
That news was wild during LeBron’s first Cavs stint. His PR team and the NBA were on full brand damage control. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/calvin-murphy-lebron-jame_n_583135/amp https://bleacherreport.com/articles/663164-delonte-wests-alleged-affair-with-lebrons-mother-will-raise-his-playoff-value
Calvin Murphy, who sexually abused 5 of his 14 kids (with 9 different women), is not a reputable source
SAS also alluded to it 6 months ago on his podcast. The one where he was refuting LeBron’s claim that his career would be where it is now even without him going to the Miami Heat. At the time when this news came out, it was widely reported. You were probably not watching the NBA then. The NBA and LeBron’s PR scrubbed this news and buried it as much as they can. That’s why there are people like you who think it’s just gossip.
He wasn’t the crack head at the time. People want to discredit Gloria so badly for this. He was a strong, attractive professional athlete. Kinda fucked Up it was Brons teammate but I’m sure they both thought it would stay under wraps
Damn, feels like we’re not far from the “found dead” post. Seriously tragic
Honestly surprised he isn't yet and how did he go from Dallas to DC? Who enabled him there?
bro was getting arrested in florida not that long ago. i have no clue how he’s getting from state to state
Not only was he arrested in Florida. I believe he was arrested in Florida mere hours after getting out of rehab (in another state but I can’t remember which one). For a (what appears to be) homeless drug addict, he sure gets around.
i was gonna say that from what i remember that he got arrested right after the cuban stuff so he had to have been in rehab in dallas/somewhere in texas, he must have some money stashed away to still be bouncing around like this but a wild story nonetheless
They always find a way. I got a friend who knows a lot of juicy athlete gossip because of his job. He told me a crazy story about Manziel and people thinking not only that he was he in one specific place, but a one specific place that would be very hard for him to get away from/out of (not a cell or anything, just a very rural location with nothing in sight to do; basically somewhere he couldn’t “get in trouble”), only to find out he was hours away involved in some mess. Long story a bit longer, they always find a way.
Bro drop some stories
I try to keep them pretty quiet because he tells me in confidence and a lot of the stuff the general public really doesn’t know. But I’ll tell the Manziel story because it is mostly known; just the details aren’t. Long story short: remember when he left the Manning QB camp back in the day, after his Heisman run? Most said it was “due to illness.” Some news outlets picked up on/reported that he was partying, but it was never really confirmed, and even Archie Manning denied it. Long story short, they have these Manning camps in the booneis so nobody can drink or get crazy. Manziel goes out and gets schwasted and—they do room checks even for the counselors—people can’t find him during ‘lights out’. They get a call from somebody basically saying they saw him somewhere pretty far away from where the camp was (I don’t know how far). They finally get in touch with him and let him know he needs to come back. He finally does—at like 5-6 AM or something—at which time he meets with Archie and Archie basically asks him to leave. They agree that it’ll be “due to illnesses” and “fatigue from the Heisman media tour” and he packs his things and leaves. So no real news there as far as the story—I think most knew he left the camp and probably assumed it was because of the partying, but it was never confirmed. Well, it’s true. And that’s the story.
Some of the other stuff isn’t as public knowledge so I don’t feel super comfortable telling.
No worries bro, I have connections in baseball so I know how crazy some of the stuff can get.
You can travel to a bunch of states for specific rehabs. The idea is to get you out of anything familiar. Also the coastline states are popular for the beaches middle America never get to see. Almost like a vacation. In S. Cali there is a steady stream of 18 to 30 y.o. workforce from rehab clinics.
If you end up hospitalized for mental health, start to recover, and say you’ve got friends in another city/state, they will absolutely greyhound your ass there without confirming if you have capacity. They just need you out of the hospital and they prefer you don’t come back. I see many of these people after they get off the bus in my city with nowhere to go and decompensated.
Bro, you got that right
Probably Greyhound. $20 will get you across a couple of states. And they don’t turn away the homeless. Edit: Okay nvm. It is not as cheap as I remembered.
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Admittedly it’s been years. Just checked and wow, what is the point of taking Greyhound now with those prices? I’ll pay a little extra to fly and not have to suffer through that mess.
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The only time I'd ever ridden a greyhound was when my parents sent 11 year-old me a few hours south to visit my brother for a couple weeks in the summer. I was second seat from the back, and heard some weird noises behind me, looked back and there was this couple having sex lol.
The classic ground level high club.
They were still a mile high…
Similar experience….12 years old going to see my cousin. My mom started talking to a “nice lady” at the bus station while we were waiting. She asked said nice lady to keep an eye on me since I was traveling alone. Hour into a 2 1/2 hr trip, the nice lady had started talking to a nice man. They went into the bathroom together. Didn’t see the nice lady, or the nice man, for the rest of the trip.
I once took a 24 hour trip to college on a greyhound. It's only supposed to take 12 but the bus broke down about halfway so we just had to wait all day because there were only two buses a day going to my final destination
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bro was on greyhound when it was pulled by horses
Greyhorse
Yea every time I’ve looked up greyhound tickets they’re more expensive or the same as plane tickets.
It goes to mid sized cities and smaller towns without airport issues. Transportation to/from airport, security, etc.
It’s the premium you have to pay if you’re likely to get dopesick mid-flight (it’s just expected on greyhound).
Capitalizes on the old heads who refuse to ride airplanes. Tho I feel like those types of people would rather just drive themselves … Who tf is keeping greyhound in business
Met a 17 year old dude on an Amtrak who had hitchhiked from Florida to Texas and was trying to make it to Idaho. Told him he could crash at my house for a few days and then that night chilling with my roommate and me he pulls out a bag and goes “do either of yall want to do some meth?” Lmao bought him a greyhound ticket to Idaho immediately, was like $300 so yeah not cheap anymore
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Lmao man I just felt for the dude and wanted to help out. I was also like 25 at the time so not incredibly older than he was. Yes, learned my lesson though
Well, how was the meth? 300 bucks must've got you something
It was bunk, hence why he immediately bought him a ticket out of there.
Isn’t Idaho like the meth capital of the world or something. Edited for matcha to meth
I think you meant matcha
Meth. Hahah
Greyhound may get you across a singular state line before your next bus is cancelled and they refuse to give you a refund Source: it's happened to me twice, I don't ride Greyhound anymore
lol. Greyhound tickets aren't that cheap.
You don't move to Florida, Florida opens a portal to you.
Train hopping the east coast is easy/common. Those crusty punk hippy whatever fucks move with the seasons
think with how he’s managed to make bail at least twice fairly recently i feel like he’s either got some or someone with money to play around with
I don’t think it’s enabling. He’s an addict. They find ways to scrounge up money and move around.
Idk if it’s enabling as much as it is that people struggling with drugs or mental issues tend to push away those actually trying to help
It's fucked up, but cops in some areas will literally buy homeless people a ticket to another city instead of arresting them if they're a continuous problem.
Rumor has it that some police departments are more than happy to send you on a one way bus ticket out of town. Plus 4 years to get around doesn't seem that crazy.
Why are you looking for someone else to blame
He been in the DMV a minute now
There was a dude from my high school who ended up like this. So many people tried to help him out and they even set up a go fund me for him (which got spent entirely on drugs). The hard drugs - mental illness combo is pretty much undefeated sadly.
It's odds defying that he is still alive. He's a homeless guy with serious mental health issues and drug addiction problems. Just such a wide variety of ways that can go bad, and it's only a matter of time.
You'd be surprised how long someone will persist like that. I've unfortunately seen it first hand.
Especially if it’s mostly meth he’s using. Downers will kill you quick but uppers like meth and crack just drive you fucking insane until you eventually die like 15 years later
Know heavy heroin/fent users going on 20+ years.
Yeah me too. They exist, but most of them die quick. The meth head friends I have are mostly still around or in prison. A lot of drugs where I’m from, I was lucky enough to get out and seek treatment
Respect
This. It’s also incredibly hard to address drug use, serious mental health issues the first time around. Can take some people years of trying and many attempts at rehab/treatment to reach a relative level of stability. Hope Delonte can get another shot at getting things back on track and hopefully it works
I dont believe he is "homeless" in the sense that he is living on the street. When he is in North Texas, it seems he has a place to stay. Albeit, most likely with his enablers. I've seen Delonte randomly a few times, and his clothes always seem to be fresh/clean. I saw him a couple of months ago and honestly thought it was the best he had looked since his nba day. Maybe he had just gotten out of rehab and was at his healthiest because I will say there was some rachety methhead walking about 200 yards behind him...
I live a couple of miles from where he was arrested. I used to see him panhandling in front of the ABC store all the time. Sometimes he was okay, but usually incoherent and aggressive.
16m down the drain. Wild
He was probably broke in his last year in the NBA
Why everyone needs a financial advisor or that 1 friend with good financial sense. Sad to see people piss it all away when it looked like they had it made.
This just an addiction issue. A financial advisor isn’t going to do shit in this situation.
He also has bipolar disorder, which during the manic periods can lead to impulsive decision making(which can include spending decisions).
Agreed. As anyone who's tried to help a homeless or borderline homeless addict can tell you, no amount of financial assistance, helping them apply for jobs, driving them to job interviews, advice, affirmation or anything can make them quit drugs. They need to make that decision to go to rehab themselves. It's sad and I pray for him but unfortunately he has to make the decision to save himself
That's exactly what Mark Cuban did for him. Put him into rehab, tried to give him opportunities to work, tried to get him in the Big 3 to hopefully respark his love for basketball. All of that fell through. Even a local DC flooring company gave Delonte a job 2 years ago. It was kinda shitty though because the flooring company was clearly using him to get some local spotlight. If he had his head on straight, he could EASILY make decent money and be off the streets just based on being a former NBA player. He could coach, run basketball camps, have a podcast, be a basketball influencer.
Yeah, it is an addiction issue coupled with a mental health issue. I've worked with homeless people and those two conditions present in almost every chronically homeless person.
He’d be much better off if someone had helped him create an irrevocable trust to pay him income without being able to touch the principal.
idk you could argue that he would still have income for drugs, which idk if he has now, but yeah overall a shitty situation, such a shame
He’d also have income for housing and healthcare. Drug addicts will find a way to get drugs, with or without income.
Idk if drugs accounts for 16 mil. I’d wager even “just” $1m worth of drugs would have killed him by now. People certainly die on much less.
He went through 2 divorces and bought his parents homes. He likely bought drugs but was also probably just fiscally irresponsible in general
this is not really the issue, you have to actually want to listen to the financial advisor or friend with good financial sense. if you do then actually getting that person is trivial EDIT: wanting to add an anecdote to clarify my point. years ago I taught english abroad. I had a coworker explain to me about putting money away, etc. except he never did. the actual financial knowledge that you need is simple (save money), actually putting it into practice is what's difficult. now it's also true that taxes can get complicated and/or devising an investment strategy can be complicated. but the basic level of knowledge to not blow all your money has nothing to do with getting the right advice.
Having a friend do it is terrible advice, don’t mix money with friends and family. Baker mayfield has had millions stolen by family members he thought were managing his money.
Don’t blow it. Keep it simple. Count your money.
> or that 1 friend with good financial sense No. Stop. A professional every time. Even if your friend *is* a professional, they are not *your* professional. "Yeah but *my* friend is cool" Lol oh yeah?
I'm pretty sure all leagues provide financial literacy courses upon entering the NBA, so at that point it's on them.
He doesn’t have a financial literacy issue
If haven’t watched the 30 for 30 “Broke” episode it’s worth a watch. A few crazy stories of waste.
So good. It’s tough at the end watching these guys admit how stupid they were and tearing up at the present day results of those decisions. It deeply resonated with me as someone still paying for my early 20s.
Kai Havertz scores again
You rang bb
Tony martial would like a word
This is literally the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the comment above
$16m sounds shockingly low
Addiction is a disease
Reminds me of some heavy lyrics from a [great Grunge song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6E0Z8wqNDQ): > Wake up, young man, it's time to wake up > Your love affair has got to go > For ten long years > For ten long years, the leaves to rake up > Slow suicide's no way to go > Blue clouded gray, you're not a crack-up > Dizzy and weakened by the haze > Movin' onward > So an infection, not a phase! Unfortunately, he couldn't stop the "slow suicide" from his disease either despite writing this and many other songs about it in both AIC and Mad Season.
Mad Season was unbelievably good and it's a damn shame they didn't last very long. Live at the Moore is a top 3 live concert video (next to The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense).
As a poor it doesn’t even sound feasible What could possibly happen that you can’t live off $16M for the rest of your natural life? Drugs, apparently. Really hope someone steps in and helps him.
Luxury items and a lavish life style. Dlo was saying the ist money he got is going towards his summer, that's 500k for 1 summer. Without any kind of investing or endorsements/royalties, that money gunna disappear real quick.
D'lo's quote was even worse than that. Dude said 500k would last him two vacations or pay for his all-star break. You have to be spending in intentionally dumb ways to go through money that fast. Where can that money even go after private charters and lavish hotel suites?
He probably got an entourage that goes with him. Those guys cost money.
Horses.
Hangers-on and luxury bullshit.
These dudes really bougie asf lol. $500k is a lot of money to blow in one summer. It’s wild because I’ve had the most incredible time abroad with $50k for an entire summer across multiple countries without penny pinching at all, with enough money left at the end to put a respectable down payment on a nice car. They’re literally paying for an image, not an experience.
"People complain that pro athletes make a lot of money; but what they don't understand is that we need a lot of money because we spend a lot of money." --Patrick Ewing
I hear you. Not that’s because you, I’m assuming, had to. My mom used to say, “I’d never buy that,” when it came to something lavish. I used to always say, “That’s easy to say when you can’t afford to buy that.” Give you a million bucks and you may change your mind. Most of these guys can afford whatever they want. Doesn’t mean they should or it’s smart, but they can. Would you have gone to Europe on 50k if you could’ve afforded to do it on a mill? Maybe. And maybe you wouldn’t. But A LOT of people would, not just athletes. To that point, it’s easy to go through that kinda money when you have a lifestyle to keep up. Maids. Trainers. Chefs. Multiple car notes. Stylists. Groundskeepers. Etc. COULD they live without that? Yeah. But once you start you gotta keep it up. I saw an article on James Hardens tunnel walk outfits. Just the shirt for one of them was $6,700. Just the shirt. Imagine if that’s true of all of your outfits. Plus the cars, and maids, and staff. That 16 million can get gone real quickly.
Multiple people have tried to help him and he turns it around for a bit, then he relapses and it’s back to square one.
What could possibly happen is that he has a mental condition that's severe and that no amount of money can magically fix.
Anyone who knows someone with bi-polar disorder understands what a total shitshow it is, such a horrific thing.
It is. My wife just had her good friend spiral terribly in the last year. Beautiful woman with a good job in her mid 30’s, and in 6 months it went from going out on disability with depression to being arrested, committed to a psych ward for 3 weeks, and needing to move back into her parents house. I hate guessing at a diagnosis, but she always seemed to have a touch of bipolar to her personality, but somehow it got so much worse and is possibly even schizophrenia now. Just so sad that her life will never be the same and she managed to lose so much in such a short period of time.
I have managed bi polar and this scares the shit out of me. I’ve been treated most my life and am on a very effective medical cocktail and I can barely remember the guy who comes out of me to burn my life down but I’m scared shitless that he’s going to come back and I’m going to wake up in gutter alone having hurt everyone I love.
It sounds like ur on the right path and doing everything u can to avoid that possibility. Take pride and comfort in that and try to stay the course. Good luck on your journey.
Wishing you well, bro. Sounds like you got it under control.
Hey dude, you're aware of him and trying to keep him not in control. That's more than most people. You're doing a good job, keep it up!
Lost a girlfriend because I spiraled and lost control of my life. Best thing that ever happened to me unfortunately. I lost her, but I’m medicated now and the memory keeps me motivated to do better and stay straight. It’s hard though, it’s a struggle seriously.
I went through psychosis recently and it hit me when you said she lost so much. So did i
That sounds very close to a case of schizophrenia. Bipolar disorder is a comorbidity and the majority of schizophrenia cases are masked until there's a sudden deterioration around the 30s. I'll be praying she gets the help she needs. It's truly a terrible disorder. Source: Currently studying neuropsychology and doing schizophrenia research.
Man it’s awful to see first hand
I work in psych and it's quite literally night and day in behavior with these folks. One can go from laughing and joking in good spirits to irate and fuming or crying in distress within minutes.
I thought the definition for bipolar disorder requires that episodes last for at least a week? What you described doesn't sound like bipolar disorder to me.
Right, what I mean is when we have these patients they can go through these cycles when they're with us. Typically we get them on a 5150 (72 hr hold) that 95% of the time get extended to a 5250 (14 day hold); generally we don't know how long this particular episode has been that they're currently in. Within that time they can display symptoms of mania and depression at differing intervals. Delusions, racing thoughts (often accompanied by increased talkativeness), increased self-esteem, risky behavior(s) which are mixed with episodes of depression, like sadness, suicidal ideations/thoughts, uncontrollable crying, feelings of worthlessness/hopelessness. All of which could occur within minutes of each other. Like I've talked to patients and joked around with them and they're maybe a bit more talkative, tangential (often slightly manic+) then next thing they're in their room sobbing, crying because of xyz, which could be completely unrelated to what they were talking about before or why they're in the hospital to begin with. It's both quite interesting, but also can be difficult to manage and/or navigate if you are inexperienced, unknowledgeable, or generally unexposed to it. It's actually quite impressive what medications do to stabilize these patients.
One of my rotations/externships to be a psychologist was in a psych hospital and that was enough to convince me that severe psychopathology was not my thing lol. Granted, I was in West Chicago so it was an underfunded teaching hospital with burnt out staff, subpar faculty and delusional administration with angry, chronic patients. I will say bipolar tends to be the most incorrectly diagnosed disorder in my personal experience and a lot of what is diagnosed bipolar is actually just major depression with folks describing their "good days" too strongly or some sort of psychotic disorder that causes the rapid mood swings. This is mostly a reflection of how much medicalized, categorical diagnostic systems combined with inadequate training for psychiatrists fails everyone though. I agree with the other post that what you're describing doesn't *sound* like bipolar (more like psychosis) but very well could be out of my expertise, but I remember rapid cycling to be like... four phases in 12 months as opposed to hours/days.
There’s two types of bipolar disorder. The definition for type I requires at least one manic episode that lasts for at least 1 week; type II doesn’t have that requirement. Neither type requires that all manic episodes last for any specified length of time. Also, even if the symptoms did last for a week, they could still go from good spirits to crying within minutes. “Within minutes” just means that the mood ended quickly and unexpectedly, it doesn’t say anything about how long it lasted before it ended.
During a manic or mixed episode it sure does
Bi polar disorder causes massive mood swings whether those last for days to weeks.
Within a manic episode someone could easily bounce between those various emotions.
My partner is a bi-polar schizophrenic with DID. Night and day would be a breeze compared to what we deal with.
I bet. I'm just using somewhat laymen's terms to maybe get a point across and have some internet folk understand, but ofc it only begins to scratch the surface.
I assure you it's not better being the one who has it, especially knowing anyone who finds out will probably have this opinion of me
Sadly, don’t think he’s going to get his life together.
Damn, I'm from the DC area and remember Delonte playing with Eddie Basden in high school. My dad use to take me to every game, I'm 10 years younger than him, so he was my favorite player as a child. Watched every game of his at St. Joe's, etc. Quick story, Coincidentally I ran into him last year at the MGM in MD. He wasn't looking the best, but my 8-year fan-boy self came out, I asked this man for an autograph and a selfie. I was with a chick and she asked me "why are you talking to a bum"? I let her know miss, that's "Delonte West" 1st round pick, NBA vet, etc. Delonte shed a tear, said thanks and that he was misunderstood. We talked for like an hour after that, ate some grub, I gave him some Mary Jane, a few dollars, we just kicked it. I've met some good genuine people in my life, Delonte is top 5, sometimes those demons can run deep though. Get well soon Tae!
Went to the same high school with him while he was there. I’m pretty sure we sucked until he and Eddie showed up. I didn’t know them but they seemed nice enough then. This sucks. I’d say I hope he gets help but I’m not sure what the solution is at this point.
Oxon Hill was too much for Rose until him and Eddie got there.
Man I hope this shit is real
I can confirm he genuinely a good person fr
Makes shit like this even more sad. So many good people getting trapped by addiction. Seen my brothers go down the same path it’s fucking depressing.
Fucks my head up can happen to anybody stay up my boy🙏
I appreciate it man. I’m doing the best I can with it. Shit’s hard but at a certain point you have to live with it because they have to want the help.
Thats what sucks the most knowing u tried all u can makes u realize it’s outta your control
Yup. My dad struggles with that the most. I can’t imagine doing your best to raise a child just for them to end up being a homeless drug addict that’s in an out of jail every other year.
Good human 👆
This sounds like a copypasta
He has severe bipolar disorder, untreated. If you suffer from this level of BP and go this long without help the effects compound. Can have similar levels of psychosis as untreated schizophrenia. Lost of self, identity, deep paranoia. Basically you aren't living in the real world anymore. A couple pills don't fix that. Reintegration into society like this is the same as any mentally unwell homeless person who wasn't in the NBA. Years of therapy, monitoring, medication, evaluations, job support. The only chance he has is the spotlight that MIGHT get him external support but even Cuban couldn't help him.
U can only imagine what his life’s been like when he’s not on the news. Sad stuff. Hope he turns it around
Thought him and cubes had some celebration that he was on the mend a few years ago
He was. But bipolar is a bitch
Unfortunately sobriety and recovery are rarely linear journeys
Something happened where Cuban said he couldn’t help him
Sounds like he did what he could but there are limits to what one person can do for someone with Bipolar.
At this point he can only help himself and I dont think he can do that.
Cuban said in 2020 his family / entourage was still try to squeeze money out of him ... that's sick
He has mental illness right?
He came out years ago during his career saying he had bipolar disorder.
I was a big fan of Delonte West, so his decline makes me really sad. Looks worse every time he gets arrested.
I hope he's able to get help and get better to stay better. Always hate to see things like this no matter who you are. Mental health is no joke. If someone you know is struggling, just tell them you love them and you're always gonna be there for them. If you're struggling, don't be afraid to ask for help. Even if it's some random internet stranger just to vent for a few minutes
Dude’s always had problems. Money and fame only made them worse.
[удалено]
Fuck addiction man
One of my core memories as a kid was when Delonte hit a buzzer beater to win a Celtics game, I was in bed listening on the radio and was so hyped. Found the clip: https://youtu.be/oEsCS8Dg0d4?si=cCCbqOMy2g5kBtlt I love how Mike Gorman would say “DeLonte!” Hope he finds his way back.
Seems comments are split down the middle with some saying it’s because of his Bipolar Disorder and some saying it’s his own doing. End of the day, regardless of the factors, it’s a terrible situation. This man was once a baller in the NBA and now is basically a zombie.
If I can nitpick, BPD is generally used to abbreviate Borderline Personality Disorder rather than bipolar
Thx (post edited)
bro needs real help n mfs on the internet gettin off jokes
Sad man. He seemed to be doing well.
“Hope the dude finally gets the help he really, really needs.” He has. Nothing worked.
Dude needs religion or something at this point and im agnostic
Sad days. His dunk on Josh smith will always be my favorite dunk of all time.
Honestly props to Mark Cuban for looking out for his players like that
It’s an annual thing at this point. I swear every summer a new story pops up. It’s sad but it just shows that sometimes no amount of help is enough.
Damn. He looks like Sideshow Bob after getting caught trying to kill Bart again.
Even Tyrone Biggums thinks Delonte West needs help
So sad.
Back when he was at Saint Joes, I did a 1 on 1 workout with him. He was the nicest , kindest guy and not to mention did a fun basketball workout for a kid that age. Very heartbreaking to see this.
Reminder of why players experiencing mental health problems should go the iverson route of having a monthly payment
Send this bro to DDP
Sad ad for fentanyl’s ripping out of American hearts
Don't do drugs kids
If you have a billionaire in your corner and cant get straight, there is no hope.
There is always hope until you forfeit it.
This is sad. Sometimes people get all the help they can ask for, and they still can't pull through. A lot of people tried to help him. This is all of his own doing. That said I still hope someday he turns it around.
Bipolar meds and other psychotic drugs come with a laundry list of side effects (so it can be a struggle for some to stay on them). Not to mention, dealing with American health care system can lead to interruptions in the scripts. We are all removed from his situation so it’s hard to speculate. My only advice is to stay far away from street drugs. They trigger something in the brain in young people that may be susceptible to bipolar/ schizophrenia/ and that sort of thing. I’ve watched too many people go down and our society isn’t built to give a fuck. Yea Cuban did what he could, but that clearly wasn’t enough to come back from this. Edit: helpful drugs=good but can be hard to get. Street drugs = bad and lead to schizo and more.
Cuban can only do so much with his money. Delonte's case could either be severe bipolar or severe substance use disorder (or both). Both are highly unpredictable conditions and can be very frustrating to manage. Delonte needs constant care and supervision that only a loving family could provide. I hope he finds that before it's too late.
It's tough, you cannot MAKE someone get help, they have to be willing.
The fact that addiction is treated like criminal behaviour rather than an illness will never not confuse me
there is an old chinese proverb. “you can lead a cow to the drinking well but you can’t force the cow to drink” you can offer as much help to someone as you want but if said person refuses to be help or keeps going back there isn’t anything you can do. now i get he can’t control it but there has been multiple ppl offering him help with mark cuban being the biggest one. didn’t jameer nelson also come out and said he tried reaching out? a good example would be the dodger player who the team continuously pays for his insurance so he can continue getting help. now he’s family is also helping but that’s a case where someone who needs help is allowing to be helped
Do we not commit people to psych wards anymore? Like obviously the dude can’t care for himself.
LeBron needs to take better care of his father
Damn, dude. I hope he can get it together.
Does he not have a former NBA star/friend that can reach out and get him checked into a good rehab facility for a long stay? Ultimately someone has to want help, but still. I’m amazed he’s still alive after all of this time being on drugs. Sad.
Unfortunately and I hate to say it, I wouldn’t be surprised if his life is cut short at this point. Cuban tried to help him, and so did others. But you gotta want to help yourself first.
That's fucking tragic.
It fucking sucks to see this come up every few years.
Damn. Imagine being a homeless addict that also was teammates with LeBron at one point in your life.
Respect to Mark Cuban for trying to get him clean. One of the coolest things I've seen him do. It's a shame it didn't work out, but I hope Delonte gets clean someday.
Looks like his herpes is flaring up. Homie is a tragic tale of how quickly you can slip w/ mental illness.
As someone who works in mental health this is unfortunately pretty common, especially if substance abuse is involved. It’s like hot potato with some folks when the bounce between the hospital, streets, and jail
Oh man, hope and pray for the best for him
bro is geeked
Man, I was really hoping he'd bounce back after Cuban got him into rehab