Delonte West was seen in videos that spread across the internet Monday showing him getting beat up on a highway and then sounding incoherent while talking with an officer. One of the consistent responses from those who watched was: why isn’t anyone helping out West, who clearly does not seem to be in a good state of mind?
The answer seems to be that many have been aware of West’s issues and tried to help, but he has not been cooperative.
Take this from a story by Shams Charania in The Athletic Tuesday:
From West’s former teammates and coaches to team officials, all have run into the same issue over and over with him. A trip for him to seek help is scheduled and booked, West agrees upon it, and then he cancels. “He has to want to be helped,” said one person directly involved in setting him up with assistance. One of his former teams, according to a person, tried “too many times to count.”
Just like the person who was quoted in the story said, a person who needs help has to want the help in order to change. People can complain about the lack of resources spent on mental health and ask why more isn’t being done, but the sad reality is sometimes you can only do so much.
At least we know there are people out there who care about him and are trying to get him better.
