Delonte West (born July 26, 1983, in Washington,
D.C.) is an American professional basketball player
in the guard positions for the Cleveland Cavaliers
of the NBA.
West chose to leave St. Joseph's after his junior
campaign and was selected by the Boston Celtics as
the 24th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. In his first
season he struggled with injuries, playing a total
of just 39 games, mostly coming off the bench. He
averaged 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists
per game. After making the transition to point guard
in his rookie season, West was named the starting
point guard at the beginning of the 2005-06 season
by head coach Doc Rivers.
In 2005-06, West averaged 11.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 4.6
APG. On February 12, 2006, he was named to represent
the Celtics on the sophomore team for the Rookie
Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend. Coincidentally,
he replaced his college teammate Jameer Nelson, who
withdrew because of injuries.
West was moved to the shooting guard spot in the
2006-07 season, but showed signs of difficulty early
in the season. He was later moved back to the point
guard position. West has had some clutch shots,
including a game-winning buzzer-beater against the
Charlotte Bobcats on November 8, 2006, and a
game-tying three pointer with 4 seconds remaining in
regulation to bring the game into overtime against
the New Jersey Nets on March 3, 2007. The Celtics
would eventually win the game against the Nets. The
next day against the Minnesota Timberwolves, West
scored a career-high 31 points and made a
career-high 12 free throw shots, in a double
overtime Celtics victory. West scored all 31 of his
points in that game during the second half,
including the two overtimes. At the end of the
2006-07 season, he was sharing starting minutes with
Rajon Rondo.
On June 28, 2007 (during the 2007 NBA Draft) the
Celtics traded West to the Seattle SuperSonics,
along with Jeff Green (their 5th overall pick) and
Wally Szczerbiak. Boston received Ray Allen and
Sonics' 35th overall pick Glen Davis.
On February 21, 2008, West was part of a three-team
trade which sent him, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and
Wally Szczerbiak to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was
reunited with his Saint Joseph's teammate Dwayne
Jones.
On April 27, 2008, West made perhaps the most clutch
3-pointer of his NBA career with 5.4 seconds left in
a playoff game against the Washington Wizards, in
Washington. His tiebreaking game-winner took the
Cleveland Cavaliers to a 3-1 lead in this first
round series.
