Oct

18

Delonte Shows Strength By Seeking Help

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Off The Court Issues, SDC COMMENTARY 

We happen to have a double standard on this planet. When someone is injured physically, we universally have sympathy and compassion for the person. However if a person displays mental illness, many folks look at that person with contempt. Why does this occur? Perhaps it is due to fear, or ignorance, or maybe it’s just a weakness in the person who displays that contempt.

For the first 48 years of my life on this planet I never suffered anything worse than a cold. How ever one week before Christmas in 2004, after years of working too many hours, getting too little sleep, and subsisting on junk food my body rebelled. I started suffering excruciating pain, in my neck, left shoulder, left arm, and numbness in my left hand. After almost a year of futility, I underwent the first of two spinal surgeries.

When I returned to work, it was at the beginning of the Cleveland Cavaliers season, which I was covering as Sports Director for Metro Networks in Cleveland. I had to wear a “soft collar” neck brace, and was constantly stopped by concerned acquaintances asking if I was okay. I even was approached by LeBron James mother Gloria, and ended up having a long conversation with her. Needless to say, every conversation ended with the person wishing me a speedy recovery.

The reason I bring this up, is to contrast how our society treats people who suffer from mental illnesses. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West took some time off from Cavaliers training camp from October 4-15 to in his words “get my thoughts back together.”

West has revealed to reporters that he is undergoing therapy, and taking medication to deal with a mood disorder, and depression. The Cavaliers guard says he has been battling these conditions through out his life, but he was afraid of seeking help. He equated seeking help with a weakness on his part, a fear that no athlete ever wants to reveal. West said “In a sense, you feel like a weaker man because you have to raise your hand and ask for help. But I found out over the last week that it made me a stronger person. I came back focused, and with the help of some medicine and talking with people on a regular basis, I’m back in good spirits.”

West who was a restricted free agent signed a multi-year contract with Cleveland in early September. The guard who came to the Cavaliers in a three team trade in February, was probably outside of LBJ the most consistent player in the playoffs last season for Cleveland. After signing the deal West said “This is the first time since I was offered a scholarship at St. Joes that I feel like I am valued as a person and a player. Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers have shown me that they value me as a person and a player and that was the most important thing to me. In that sense, this was not about a specific dollar amount. You can’t really put a dollar value on a person, their skills you can, but not their heart and what kind of person they are. My family is blessed and I feel a great relief to be able to concentrate on basketball now.”

Unfortunately that elation according to reports did not last for long. The “Associated Press” reported that West felt he acted inappropriately towards a high school official who was refereeing a team scrimmage on October 3. West said that he allowed his anger and frustration to get the best of him, and he took it out on the official. After the scrimmage he said “I felt a feeling of anger and I just wanted to throw it all away and quit the team.”

West was smart enough to take some time off and cool down, and not let the darkness he was feeling internally take him down. Instead he realized that this was the impetus he needed to admit he had a problem. He then went to seek measures of how to deal with it.

I wish I could say that West’s announcement caught me by surprise, but I would be lying. I have had concerns about Delonte ever since my good friend Carolyn at And One posted a video on her site earlier this year. The first time I watched it, it was like watching a car wreck, I was so fascinated that I could not turn it off. If this was a put on, Delonte West was a natural stand up comedian. But if it was as I feared just a rambling stream of consciousness, this young man had some issues.

The day before West was signed by Cleveland I posted the video  Delonte West Uncut on this site. I also sent the link to a good friend of mine who covers the Cavaliers. He believed that Delonte was just putting on an act, however I still had my doubts.

Unfortunately the recent news seems to have confirmed my concerns. But the positive is that West showed his strength in dealing with what he perceived as a weakness. Does that mean that life will just go on happily ever after? Of course not. After my two operations, I no longer have the unrelenting pain, that I once had. But I have good days and bad. Delonte will have the same.

I am hoping that NBA fans will not try to exploit West’s illness, but unfortunately they most likely will. if Delonte West was playing with a knee brace, no one would say anything derogatory. However there are a lot of “Haters” out there, and they won’t find it beneath themselves to try to mess with Delonte’s mind. It is up to Coach Mike Brown, and his teammates to be his support system on the road. Knowing Mike Brown I believe he and his team will be up to the task.

© Copyright 2008 thesackattack.net


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