Breaking: Delonte West Arrested on Gun Charges

Posted by Zach Lowe on Sep 18, 2009 32887 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F09%2F18%2Fbreaking-delonte-west-arrested-on-gun-charges%2FBreaking%3A+Delonte+West+Arrested+on+Gun+Charges2009-09-18+20%3A21%3A10Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D3288

Delonte West, the ex-Celtic and current Cavs starting guard, was arrested late Thursday in Maryland and charged with carrying three loaded handguns, according to the Washington Post.

West was driving a “three-wheeled motorcycle” (huh?) when a police officer pulled him over for cutting off the cop, according to the WaPo. West admitted he had a gun in his waistband.

WaPo:

That prompted the officer to call for backup, and investigators found that West was actually carrying three guns: a Beretta 9mm in his waistband, a Ruger .357 strapped to his leg and a shotgun in a guitar case slung over his back.

It should be noted that it unclear whether West had proper registration for the guns, and I don’t have time right now to look up the specifics of Maryland handgun regulations.

If you’ll recall, the Celtics got rid of Sebastian Telfair after police pulled him over in Yonkers, N.Y. and found a handgun in his car. (The gun turned out to be registered to Telfair’s girlfriend at the time). The team even ripped Telfair’s nameplate off of his locker before they let him go.

Let’s hold off judging West or making fun of him until we know more. As far as I can recall, he has not had any off-the-court legal problems during his career and has always worked hard and put the team first on the court. I admired the way he openly dealt with his depression instead of refusing to talk about it or acting as if macho sports figures should be above regular human anxieties.

The C’s, of course, traded West to Seattle in the Ray Allen deal. The Sonics dealt him to Cleveland in the three-way Bulls-Sonics-Cavs trade centered around Ben Wallace.

I’m hoping there is a reasonable explanation for all of this.