From guarding with a knife to being on the streets, what has Derondi West experienced over the years?

Recently, a video of former NBA player Deronti West living naked on the street was rumored to be boiling, and the video of West sitting on the dirty street floor, described as withered, his hands bound, hysterically roaring at the camera, looking both terrible and pitiful.

Deronti West has played for the Celtics, Supersonics, Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks in his career, averaging 9.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game, and earning a total of $16.23 million in his eight-year career. The Mavericks were still able to contribute 9.6 points to the team in their final season, and the 37-year-old should not be at an age when he could not continue to rely on basketball for a living, so what has West experienced in his life over the years?

The Green Army's starting backcourt, one of ray Allen's chips in the trade

West was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 24th pick in the first round of 2004, and after a year on the bench with an injury, Coach Rivers promoted West to the team's starting point guard position in the 2005-06 season, and West also immediately showed his strength, averaging 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game, shooting a true shooting rate of 57.4%, and quickly grew into an offensive and defensive defender.

In the 2006-07 season, West swung between the first and second positions, and the state suffered some ups and downs, but averaged 12.2 points at the end of the season, and in the double overtime battle with the Timberwolves, he also shot down 31 points that broke the career single-game scoring record, but West's performance did not bring the Celtics the victory they wanted, and the team's record for many years made Danny Angie decide to gamble, stud all the chips, and quickly formed the sensational league's "Big Three" And West was one of the chips that traded Ray Allen at the time.

A knife-wielding bodyguard in a 42.2-minute playoff bloody battle

After 35 games with the Supersonics, West was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and became a teammate with LeBron James, and together with Mo Williams became James's right and left arm, contributing 10.8 points, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals for the team in 13 playoff games, shooting 42.9% from three-point range, and the "dog skin plaster" defense was extremely impressive to fans, and it was an important peripheral fire point and the number one outside defense tip of the Cavaliers.

The 2008-09 season was the highest season of West's career, as the team's starting scoring guard, he averaged 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game, assisted James to get the league's best 66 wins, and in the playoffs, due to the shortage of manpower in the team's backcourt, he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility, and in the Eastern Conference Finals, he was only 1.93 meters tall and even had to go to the actual organizer of the home defense magic team. 2.08m tall Turkoglu, 14 playoff games, West averaged 42.2 minutes per game! Even more than James's 41.4 minutes, the Cavaliers played the most time in the playoffs, and the most enduring and difficult knife guard around James.

Poor character and bipolar disorder had plunged him into the abyss

But after that, West's life and career began to fall into the abyss, in fact, as early as adolescence, West was a problem teenager, drug addicted, self-harmed, and homeless. By 2008, he was suddenly diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental illness that would have both manic and depressive episodes, and the mental illness that also made West's life a mess. During the offseason of 2009, he was investigated by the police for violating traffic laws and found that he was armed with a 9 mm Baleta pistol, a revolver and a shotgun, and West was already extremely dangerous, so he was arrested and imprisoned.

After James left the Cavaliers, the Cavaliers moved on to rebuild, after which he was traded to the Timberwolves, then back to the Celtics, and finally to the Dallas Mavericks.

He can contribute to the team on the field, but his troubles off the pitch also make the team fearful. In October 2012, just before the season began, the Dallas Mavericks announced: "Because West made a move against the team, he was suspended indefinitely!" West's career in the NBA also came to an abrupt end.

After leaving the NBA, he began to travel overseas to make a living, but because of his bad past and unstable mood swings, West had difficulty getting the trust of the team, and since 2015, he has not been able to play basketball.

It can be seen from the above that the reason why Deronti West has fallen into the streets today is not because of the scandal of catching wind and shadows, but because of the harsh growth environment and serious mental illness, but what is heartwarming is that after learning of his plight, many players and executives have expressed their willingness to lend a helping hand to West, and the players' union is also in action.