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Matt Geagan is a sports producer at WBZ-TV… which means he’s not just into basketball. You can catch MattyG’s thoughts on all things sports on his FoxSports.com blog. You can email him at MattyG@RedsArmy.com |
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Thanks For Everything Delonte |
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It is always hard to say goodbye. Saying goodbye to some people is a little harder than others though. Wally Szczerbiak, I didn’t mind too much because his last name is such a pain to spell. Jeff Green, we hardly knew ye. But Delonte West, the tattooed redhead, that one was tough. Delonte wasn’t a 30 point a night guy. Heck, he was barely a 10 point a night guy. But when D-West took the floor, everyone knew he was going to give everything he had. He was often injured, but those injuries came because he played the game hard. Chances are Delonte’s #13 wont be hanging with the 21 other numbers (and one name) in the Boston Garden. But he sure will be remembered by anyone who considers themselves a Celtic fan. |
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Let’s start at the beginning. On October 20th 2003, Danny Ainge made a huge splash in his first season as the Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations. He traded fan favorite Antoine Walker along with Tony Delk for Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsh, Chris Mills and a first round draft pick. At that same time, Delonte West was in his junior year at St. Joseph’s in Pennsylvania getting ready for the basketball season. Along with Jameer Nelson, West would lead the Hawks to a perfect 27-0 record. He averaged nearly 19 points a game and made the All American third team. Despite a perfect regular season, the Hawks were beaten in their first game of the A-10 tournament 87-67 by Xavier. The game wasn’t even that close, as Xavier led by 37 at one point. The Hawks still got a Number One seed in the NCAA tournament, and made it all the way to the Elite Eight. In the second round, Delonte scored 15 points and had eight assists in a 70-65 win over Texas Tech. The Hawks lost to Oklahoma State (and Tony Allen) in the Elite Eight, a game which West scored a game high 20. After that it was off to the NBA for the junior shooting guard. Delonte was a projected late first round pick. The 2003 draft class was stacked with NBA talent, and the Celtics had three of the first 25 picks. With the 24th pick in the draft, the pick from Dallas, Danny decided to take West. Along with Al Jefferson and Tony Allen, it was a very hopeful rookie class for the Celtics. |
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West was a very big question mark going into his rookie year, but there was hope. He was too small to play the two guard in the NBA, but hadn’t played the point in college. With Danny already drafting his point guard of the future in Marcus Banks the year before, it looked like Delonte was a man with no position. He started the season injured, and ended up playing in just 39 games. He averaged only 4.5 points for the season, but in the games he played, he made a difference. Take his first game for example. The day after Thanksgiving, the Celtics welcomed the Cavaliers to the Fleet Center. That night, West made his NBA debut, and made his mark felt. He only played nine minutes, mostly at the end of the first half and then random minutes in the second, but showed some flashes. He had an amazing breakaway dunk, which led to mass confusion in the stands. “This guy can dunk? That’s awesome” and “Look at his hustle” were the most common phrases. Being there first hand was a treat, and immediately after that, the folklore of Delonte West was born. West’s sophomore campaign in the NBA went |
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much better than his first year. After learning under Gary Payton for a year, he became the teams starting point guard. He again suffered various different injuries but still played in 71 games (all starts too). West wasn’t the best point guard out there, but he took to the position pretty well. He even showed that despite being just 6-4 he could still throw down a block every now and then. He started for the sophomore team All-Star weekend when his former teammate Jameer Nelson sat out with a bad back. For the season, he shot over 48% from the floor and shared the ball well with over four assists a game. But his game wasn’t the only thing making noise. |
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The best part was how West blossomed as a member of the team. More and more fans started to love him. He kept an online diary his rookie season (which even included movie reviews) and then really opened up with this touching (and occasionally romantic) Valentine’s Day feature. He was a rare breed of character and personality. Every time he talked, it was hard to catch exactly what he was saying. His dialect of the English language was a new breed that I had never heard. This is no knock on him, because it was part of who he was. And there wasn’t a lot to dislike about him. He played the game hard, and he played the game right. He would stick up for teammates, and he would get tough when he had to. Then, of course, there were the tattoos. When a new season started, there was a good chance West would have at least one new tattoo to show off. The basketball jersey doesn’t cover up much of the upper body, but you won’t see much |
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skin. It starts with two Chinese symbols on the right side of his neck, one that represents Inner Strength and the other Sincere. On his right arm West has his nickname Redz because he is the only one of three kids in his family with red hair. But the one on his left arm is much deeper. He has the lyrics from Bob Marley’s Zion Train: Don’t gain the world and lose your soul. Wisdom is better than silver and gold. |
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This has a lot of meaning to Delonte, who didn’t have the best childhood. Money was always tight while growing up in Washington DC with his mom and two siblings. They moved constantly and some times all four had to share a bed. Delonte went to three different middle schools and then moved to his fathers in Virginia to start High School. This constant change angered him and he moved back to DC. Despite all his anger, Delonte found an escape with basketball. It’s what he loved to do. After he was rewarded with his NBA contract, he bought his mom a house. He even used to stay in her basement in the off season. How else was he going to afford all those tattoos? Everything changed again this past season |
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though. When the Celtics traded for Sebastian Telfair and drafted Rajon Rondo, it was time for Delonte to move back to being a shooting guard. He also had to return to the bench. But thanks to injuries to Wally Szczerbiak and just about everyone else one the team (and the suckage of Telfair. Sorry, that wasn’t needed.) West started 47 of his 69 games. And then he returned to the point and then back to the two guard position, and then back to the point... you get the picture. He took a step back on paper, but he hit a lot of big shots. D-West nailed a 7-footer with no time left to beat the Bobcats for the team’s first win of the season. He hit a three against the Nets on March 3rd to send the game into |
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overtime, a game the Celtics went on to win. He once again played through injuries and gave his heart and soul to the team. When it was all said and done, the Celtics won only 24 games. It was time for things to change. The team traded for a veteran, and had to give up a young guy. Hello Ray Allen, Goodbye Delonte West. So it’s time to put away the sad music and look ahead. West was no superstar but he was fun to watch. He always gave a little extra (and in Boston that gets you some sort of bonus point) and could make a game changing play. He had his cold streaks and he hit some big shots. There are plenty more famous people to grace the history of the Celtics, but for his three seasons in green, Delonte was nothing but class for the legendary team. So let’s wish D-West good luck in Seattle, and thank him when he comes back next season.
He may even have a few more tattoos. |
