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On Thursday, Delonte West was arrested in Maryland for carrying concealed weapons after being pulled over for a moving violation according to the Washington Post. The Post reports that West was driving in his Cam-Am Spyder at 10 PM (which is apparently a 3 wheeled motorcycle…so a motor-tricycle, I guess) when he cut off a police officer. The officer pulled him over for an “unsafe lane change”. When he approached Delonte, West mentioned to the officer that he had a gun in his waistband. This prompted the cop to do a full search of West and his vehicle. Turns out West was carrying a Beretta 9mm in his waistband, a Ruger .357 magnum strapped to his leg and a shotgun in a guitar case West had over his shoulder. Now is a good time to remind you that this is real life and not GTA IV: NBA Players Edition. One can only wonder what West was doing at 10 PM on the Beltway with driving skills and an arsenal that would make Niko Bellic proud.
This is what West was cutting cops off in while carrying three guns...cool but not smart
West got a speeding ticket and two weapons citations for the concealed handguns. Apparently since the shotgun in the guitar case was not considered concealed, it was perfectly legal. No details about any additional charges or investigations have come to light yet and West’s camp has mostly kept quiet. The exception is West’s father Dmitri (yes that’s his real name, seems like the GTA theme is inescapable). Dmitri is quoted as saying, "All I can say is Delonte was looking behind his back and protecting himself. Bottom line is there's a lot of not-too-nice people out here"
We’ve heard this type of explanation before. Plaxico Burress’s self inflicted gunshot wound to his leg which was followed by arrest and jail time were all caused by this type of paranoid reasoning. Apparently some pro athletes really feel like they are in danger because they are pro athletes. Luckily for West, his guns were attained legally, unlike Burress. Another fortunate way he differs from Plax is that his waistband holster didn't result in a gunshot to the leg. Still, he was carrying two of the guns in an illegal manner (concealed) so he’ll have to pay the price for that. While it makes sense to want to be safe, it still doesn’t justify being armed to the extent West was. Also, why the hell are you driving around by yourself to an undisclosed location at night if you are afraid of people gunning for you?
I understand this could be a cultural thing; that these athletes may have been brought up in rough areas and when they get rich and famous, they still might have friends and families in those rough parts of town. Instead of leaving that life behind totally, they go back occasionally, except they use their newfound wealth to go back packing heat. Sure, sane people would bring bodyguards and all that good stuff for security in situations like that, but some dudes do not want to do it that way. Obviously they still want to be badass, even if they are rich and famous. And what’s more badass than cruising in your motor-tricycle with multiple guns in your pants?
Is Delonte the real-life Niko?
In all honesty, it really does seem like the only explanation as to why West was recklessly driving late at night, alone, and armed like Eastern European hitman, is that he was in the middle of some sort of real life GTA mission. If this is the case, if he was caught in the middle of doing something truely Niko-esque, West could be in bigger trouble than a couple of gun charges could bring him. On the other hand, this could just be how West normally travels. That just means the dude is crazy. In any event, the Cavaliers have issued a statement that basically says that they are watching the situation closely but have not taken any action yet because they really don’t know what to make of the incident. I don’t know what to make of it either but one thing I do know is that as the Cavs are trying to make another title run, they certainly do not want a distraction like this.
