Delonte West/Von Wafer Fight - Celtics Considering Releasing West

West comes to blows with Wafer
1:34
PM ETDelonte West | Celtics TopEmailShare6Alex Kennedy of HOOPSWORLD tweets that "after an intense three-on-three game in practice [Friday]" Delonte West and Von Wafer got into a fist fight in the locker room.

"Sources say that Wafer tried to walk away but West followed him into the locker room and threw the first punch," added Kennedy. "[Coach] Doc [Rivers] and vets aren't happy."

Kennedy also reported the Celtics are considering releasing West, who's on a non-guaranteed contract.

West is currently serving a 10-game suspension stemming from weapons charges, so he's not playing right now anyway.

And despite his troubles, West is a solid defender and can provide a scoring punch off the bench for the C's this season.

If they end up releasing him, they'd lose out on a player who could figure to be an important backcourt reserve once off suspension.

It's possible West could still be picked up by another squad if let go, but this latest altercation certainly won't help his case.

Update:

Less than one week after tempers flared during a two-on-two game in practice, Delonte West and Von Wafer had another altercation earlier this afternoon. During a three-on-three game with Avery Bradley, Luke Harangody, Semih Erden and assistant coach Tyronn Lue, West began fouling Wafer each time the reserve guard touched the ball. West was increasingly physical to the point that Wafer exited to the locker room midway through the game. As he walked away, West barked obscenities and taunted Wafer. After Wafer had showered and sat down at his locker, West approached from behind and threw a punch. Wafer didn't see the punch coming but quickly got off of the ground and connected on two punches of his own. He then wrestled West to the ground before being separated by the team's veterans.

I'm consolidating a couple of threads, starting with this post by Sinus.

Sam

Hi,
Even if the story is 100% true, it's much better for the Celtics to keep DW: he can be medicated off the court and he's light years ahead of VW on the court.
I hope this incident is over.

AK

Post by 112288 Today at 18:11
Reports: Delonte West, Von Wafer fight


ESPN.com news services
Boston Celtics guard Delonte West and teammate Von Wafer were involved in a physical altercation on Friday, director of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed to the Boston Herald.

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The two players were guarding each other in a game of three-on-three when West repeatedly fouled Wafer, according to Hoopsworld.com, which first reported the incident. Wafer headed to the locker room but was followed by West, who threw the first punch and the two wrestled, according to the Web site.

The Celtics are gathering information on the situation, but sources told Hoopsworld that they are considering releasing West based on this and other incidents with teammates. Ainge said the team is not planning to cut West, however.

"There was something that happened, and we're handling it internally," Ainge said, according to the Herald. "We're happy with Delonte and Von and how they've been playing, and today was unacceptable."

Doc Rivers will address the media before Friday night's game against the Knicks.

While Wafer did not directly address the incident, he wrote on his Twitter account: "Today was a test! . . . I am a professional and will continue to conduct myself as one . . . God has a plan for me."

He later tweeted: "I love my team #we family."

This is not the first time that West and Wafer have gotten into it. During two-on-two drills a week ago, West went at Wafer aggressively and when Wafer became agitated, West yelled, "Do something about it."

Ainge, though, said Friday's incident was being overblown and even denied other altercations, despite reporters being present.

"I did read that story [from Hoopsworld] and there was a lot of lies in that story," Ainge said, according to the Boston Globe. "Things were twisted. It's not true. We're not releasing Delonte. There have not been any other of these altercations that have happened this year.

"Guys trash talk and that kind of stuff but I'm not aware of any other altercation among any players at all during the course of the year. These things happen. It's not acceptable behavior. We'll just handle it internally and that's it."

The Celtics re-signed West, their former first-round draft pick, this offseason after he had been plagued by off-court issues in recent years. He is suspended for the first 10 games of this season after being found guilty of weapons charges in Maryland.

West has averaged 10 points and 3.7 assists per game in six seasons with the Celtics, SuperSonics and Cavaliers.

Chris Forsberg covers the Celtics for ESPNBoston.com.


112288

Ainge: We’re not releasing Delonte
E-mail | Print | Comments (12) Posted by Julian Benbow, Globe Staff October 29, 2010 04:02 PM
Celtics president Danny Ainge confirmed Delonte West and Von Wafer were involved in a fight earlier today after the Celtics' shootaround in Waltham, but shot down many of the details in the Hoopsworld report, including the notion the team was considering releasing West, who is serving a 10-game suspension.

"There was an altercation and we just handled it internally and we’ll move forward," Ainge said. "I talked with the guys. Doc [Rivers] talked with them and we’re just moving forward on it."

Ainge said that neither player was in jeopardy of being released. He went to bat for West, saying any notion that the 27-year-old guard had been involved in conflicts beyond this one and a previous dust-up with Wafer last week were untrue.

"I did read that story and there was a lot of lies in that story," Ainge said. "Things were twisted. It’s not true. We’re not releasing Delonte. There have not been any other of these altercations that have happened this year.

"Guys trash talk and that kind of stuff, but I’m not aware of any other altercation among any players at all during the course of the year. These things happen. It’s not acceptable behavior. We’ll just handle it internally and that’s it.

"Whoever wrote the story had something [against] Delonte. That’s for sure. There’s some untruths in that story."


112288

Post by Sam Today at 19:44
I was listening to the reports as they came into WEEI Radio (Boston). One reporter mentioned that, although apparently Delonte was the aggressor, the veterans don't like Wafer and have never accepted him. It wouldn't take a stretch of the mind to assume that either West or Wafer might not last with this club. But, aside from any poltically correct, humanistically correct or morally correct sympathies in Delonte's directions, it wouldn't be shocking to see the Celtics cast their lot with Delonte because they feel he can be an integral part of a bench that will help them in their championship quest.

Sam

Unless Delonte really screws up, I don't see him going anywhere. These reports were based on information given by Wafer himself. He even tweeted after the incident. Watch an interview with him and he sounds like a lying fool!
I know West has alot of faults, but knowing this is his last big shot, and the fact that he has the backing of Danny and Doc and a number of vets, it is hard to believe he is going to go anywhere anytime soon. Wafer. on the other hand, may be watching his career here in Boston going up in flames and this is why he could have been responsible for leaking this information. It is obviously
a race between the two of them for that spot and Wafter, right now, is on the outsie looking in.

Rosalie,

If it's a race, Wafer is an also-ran. Maybe we'll get to see Lasme on the team after all. Of maybe Danny will just leave the #15 spot open. Whatever happens, I can't see both Delonte and Wafer being on the team much longer. Wafer did get into the game last night for an instant, and his only contribution that I recall was shooting an airball from the left corner.

One report did quote either Danny or Doc as saying that both players shared responsibility for the flareup.

I absolutely hate to see this kind of thing ht the all-goo-accommodating media. It's so un-Celtic-like. Not so much the fight, as I know there are dust-ups all the time in practice. But, rather, the notoriety.

Sam

Sam wrote:Rosalie,

If it's a race, Wafer is an also-ran. Maybe we'll get to see Lasme on the team after all. Of maybe Danny will just leave the #15 spot open. Whatever happens, I can't see both Delonte and Wafer being on the team much longer. Wafer did get into the game last night for an instant, and his only contribution that I recall was shooting an airball from the left corner.

One report did quote either Danny or Doc as saying that both players shared responsibility for the flareup.

I absolutely hate to see this kind of thing ht the all-goo-accommodating media. It's so un-Celtic-like. Not so much the fight, as I know there are dust-ups all the time in practice. But, rather, the notoriety.

Sam

My guess is that KG, Ray, and PP are going to handle this and its not going to be much of a problem for the rest of the season. Those three are very good at this sort of thing

Pumpsie,

I think you're right, and you may have left out the biggest influence of all—Shaq. Turns out Shaq prides himself as having been the only Cavalier who could talk with West last season. And Shaq has expressly promised either Danny or Doc (I can't recall which) that he would "take care" of West this season.

Most important, the veterans have a vested interest in "taking care" of West because (a) they like him and (b) they feel he can be a key ingredient to a march to the championship. On the other hand, the veterans have never liked Wafer and have never accepted him on the team. Or so say at least two reporters who cover the team. The vets wanted Lasme, rather than Wafer, to stick with the team.

Sam

And that should about wrap this topic up.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2010/11/01/west_wafer_have_patched_things_up/

west is certainly saying the right things to put this to rest, but what'll he do next practice ... or the one after that, etc. ... he's seemingly not so great at predicting his own behavior- and neither is anyone else.

i hope Shaq and the others can influence him to cool it ...

Michael