Dallas Mavericks guard Delonte West barred from the White House visit – NBA Update
The NBA Champions Dallas Mavericks will be paying a visit to White House today, where all the players and the coaching staff will be meeting US President Barack Obama. However there is one team member that would not be accompanying
the team - the newly acquired guard Delonte West.
The reason for the snub is that all the visitors to the White House require a security background check and with a September 2009 arrest saga to boast, the young has been barred from the presidential visit. Talking to the Fort-Worth
Star-Telegram last night, a disappointed and embarrassed West confirmed the news
"I'm banned from going to the White House, so I'm not going to make it. But I'm going home to D.C. I'm just not allowed to go to the White House. That's what happens when you make bad decisions in your life. You can't go to the
White House. I've been there 100 times in my lifetime. I live right around the corner. I live in D.C. It's going to be ashamed the President isn't going to get a chance to meet me. I'm the president of my house.''
This is undoubtedly an unfortunate development; however it is completely his own fault. Over last two years, West has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
On September 17th 2009, he was caught with a 9mm Beretta pistol, .357 Magnum and a Remington 870 in a guitar case, when he was pulled over by the traffic police for a traffic violation. He was arrested at the spot and
after months of hearings and the trial, West was sentenced few months probation along with psychological reprehension.
All this drama affected his performance next season, in which he finished with an average of only 8.8 points per game and consequently traded by Cleveland Cavaliers to Boston Celtics. He gave his career worst performance playing
for Celtics and therefore as expected, he was let go by them as well. In the elongated off season due to the labour dispute, he was the only NBA player not cleared to play abroad for reasons other than contracts.
This latest personal setback is sure to hurt him the most, and all he can do now is to take it as a motivation for future conduct.
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