VIDEO: Coach Rick Carlisle Addresses Conditions of Former Mavs Delonte West and Chandler Parsons
DALLAS - Coach Rick Carlisle opened his Tuesday night pregame meeting with the media by addressing what he knows about the conditions of a pair of former Dallas Mavericks players, Delonte West and Chandler Parsons.
West was in the Mavs organization, with the NBA club and with the G-League Texas Legends, on and off for a few seasons starting in 2011. In recent years, via the cameras-are-everywhere social-media phenomenon, the public has witnessed West via the videos of this man who earned $16 million in the NBA appearing to be a beggar, videos of him appearing to be homeless, filthy and lost, and now a horrifying video of (apparently) him being beaten brutally, relentlessly, in the middle of a street near his native Washington, D.C. by another man with mercilessly heavy fists and boots.
"I've heard it's a very sad situation,'' Carlisle said. "You never want to see any human being go through something like that.''
West has talked openly about his bipolar disorder but also his sometimes-reluctance to use the medicine prescribed him.
Parsons, who had a high-profile stint in Dallas from 2014 to 2016 and is now with the Atlanta Hawks, faces a career is in jeopardy, say his attorneys, following a recent car accident involving an allegedly drunk driver that has Parsons now dealing with "multiple severe and permanent injuries including a traumatic brain injury, disc herniation and a torn labrum," according to a statement. (The full Parsons story is here.)
Carlisle said he's in touch with Parsons and notes what a joyful presence he was as a member of the Mavs.
