The relentless rumors involving LeBron James’ mother Gloria James, and his former teammate Delonte West sometimes seem destined to never quite go away as West’s new team, the Boston Celtics will almost unbelievably open the season against James’ new team, the Miami Heat on October 26, 2010.
For those not in the know, shortly after the Cleveland Cavaliers were eliminated by none other than the Boston Celtics last season, rumors spread rapidly that LeBron James’ seemingly disinterested play stemmed from his discovery at some point during the Celtics series that his mother was having a sexual affair with his teammate West.
While the mainstream media largely stayed away from the story, the blogosphere was set afire and even Hall of Fame basketball player Calvin Murphy weighed in by saying on an ESPN radio show that Delonte West had absolutely had sex with Gloria James.
On a separate ESPN show, sports talk show host Colin Cowherd alluded to a potentially very embarrassing situation involving a member of LeBron James’ family being a main reason why he chose not to play in New York City. Cowherd suggested that the media would surely run with the story and make his life very difficult and painful.
Bill Simmons, another ESPN personality, also discussed the issue on his podcast with his guest Chuck Klosterman.
It seems that the alleged affair between Gloria James and Delonte West might have led to a sequence of events that changed the course of NBA history as James decided not to go to New York and play for the Knicks (which was where he was widely expected to go) and instead “take his talents to South Beach”.
During the offseason, West attempted to deny the rumors, but did so using very strange language. A reporter asked him if he had slept with Gloria James and West said, “Not at all. I come from an era where you don’t say nothing (sic) bad about someone’s parent, so not at all.”
He comes from an era when you don’t speak badly about someone’s parent, so no he didn’t sleep with Gloria James? The wording of that denial seems to only add fuel to the fire. If he came from an era when you do speak badly about somebody’s parent, would he have said “yes”?
It seems almost fateful now that West is a member of the Boston Celtics, and will open his season against James’ Heat in an NBA opening night tipoff that will surely attract a huge amount of attention for a variety of reasons.
The Celtics alone have plenty of interesting storylines. They made it to the seventh game of the NBA finals last season and lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. During the offseason, the Celtics added a fellow by the name of Shaquille O’Neal.
While Shaq is clearly past his prime, he still is an inside force to be reckoned with and one that would have figured to have helped the Celtics last year in their losing effort against the Lakers. With the addition of Chris Bosh and LeBron James to the Heat, as they join forces with Dwayne Wade, the road to the finals in the eastern conference no longer seems to go through Boston; a fact that will not sit well with proud veterans such as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Both teams will be looking to make a statement on opening night.
The opening night game between the Celtics and Heat on October 26 will be watched for all sorts of reasons that combine sport, loyalties, betrayal, money and, now, sex. While it will almost certainly not be mentioned on the telecast, the confluence of events that bring together former teammates Lebron James and Delonte West will result in the most salacious aspect of the night.
Sources:
Huffington Post
ESPN NBA Schedule
