Field General

Delonte West played 8 seasons in the NBA, including next to LeBron James in Cleveland. He says one day he sat down on a curb outside a liquor store and didn't get back up for 10 years. In the video below, he explains how one afternoon turned into a decade on the street. He had just come back from 2 years playing in China. Two young kids at home. He walked to the liquor store in his old neighborhood, cracked a bottle open and drank it right there with the guys hanging around outside. He sat down on the curb. Someone passed a joint. He says it was something else. Within a week he was out looking for that feeling again. It took one time to try it without the mix. After that, there was no going back. He didn't go home. Not to his family, not to his kids, not to his career. He says he didn't even have a phone for about eight years. When the videos of him on the street went viral, he was asked about the shame. His answer: hospital bracelet, jail bracelet, hospital gown, and all he thought about, all day, every day, was how it would get him the next score. He was diagnosed bipolar, with PTSD and psychotic episodes. Today he takes his pills every day. He says it's the first time in his life he's been consistent. He calls it peace. Could you come back after 10 years on that curb?