Boston Globe writer Gary Washburn tweets that Delonte West denied those salacious LeBron James rumors from earlier in the summer:

Delonte west denies lebron rumors “I come from an era where you dont say nothing bad about someones parent. So not at all.”

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Crawl out from under your rock, wipe the six months of sleep from your eyes and read this. Caught up? Great.

Back to West…this wasn’t a denial, at least the way it was written.

But in a longer Washburn story about West at Boston.com, the picture becomes clearer:

But then a reporter from a local radio station asked West the question that basketball fans, entertainment buffs, gossip columnists, and the entire Northeast Ohio region had been wondering about since the Cavaliers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs last May.

Did West have an intimate relationship with Gloria James, the mother of two-time Most Valuable Player and former teammate LeBron James?

Before a frantic team official could intervene, undoubtedly fearing West might react with four-letter words, or perhaps clam up altogether, as he did last season, West took a deep breath, stared the reporter in the eye, and addressed whether the rumors were true.

“Not at all,’’ he said. “I come from an era where you don’t say nothing bad about someone’s parent, so not at all.’’

Washburn left that first “not at all” out of his tweet, which made it seem that West was dodging the question.

Damn Twitter!

But back to West, again…why add the bit about “I come from an era…”? By saying that he doesn’t want to say anything bad about LeBron’s mom it would seem to confirm that he indeed has something bad to say, but just doesn’t want to say it.

And what ‘era’ is West talking about? He’s 27 years old, so is he talking about the ’80s or the ’90s? It’s not like he’s a WW2 vet or something.

One thing’s for sure — those Heat/Celtics games are going to be interesting.

The Boston Herald has the details of West’s pending return to Beantown.

From a pure basketball standpoint, West is a great player to get for the league minimum, but the reason that his market value is so low is because he’s a little crazy and he may or may not have caused the Cavs’ playoff implosion earlier this summer. The signing would definitely add a little extra umph to a potential Heat/Celtics playoff series.

Nevertheless, he’ll bring shooting, defense and versatility off the C’s bench.

This is a good read. It certainly puts Terez Owens’ report and Calvin Murphy’s “confirmation” into some perspective.

Friday, May 14, 1:30 p.m. Sports gossip site Terez Owens runs this item:

It is, verbatim, taken from the chain emails circulating; though by calling it “exclusive” and claiming it comes from “[his] source in Cleveland,” it gains legitimacy in the eyes of those who don’t understand how this thing works, or just want to believe it.

And…

Wednesday, May 19 Calvin Murphy, who could not dig up a character witness for his own trial for allegedly molesting 5 of his 14 children, goes on a sports talk radio show. He says that the Delonte West/Gloria James story is “absolutely true,” that he’s got multiple sources, and that West wasn’t the only person intimately involved with James’s mother.

Terez Owens cites this as confirmation.

We’ll never know for sure what did or didn’t happen, but it sure seems like this report was false from the start. Deadspin certainly thinks so.

The perplexing thing is Murphy’s confirmation. Why would he say what he said if he had any doubts? Of course, we’re talking about a guy who was accused of molesting five of his children. He was acquitted, but still.

Where does this story/rumor go from here? Will we ever hear from LeBron or Delonte on the subject? Should they even bother to respond?

TMZ Sports acquired a copy of an email sent to Terez Owens that blasts the site for starting the Delonte West/Gloria James rumor:

In the email, Frederick Nance — attorney for LeBron and Gloria — says the report is “categorically false and per se defamatory.” Nance adds, “No thinking person could possibly believe such rubbish.”

The guys at terezowens tell us, “We think it’s a little fishy that they waited almost 4 days to fire this off.” They say they stand by their source, and they’re consulting with their lawyers. The story is still up on their site … for now.

When I first heard this story, I thought it was too crazy to be true. I guess we’ll have to see if all of the facts come out.

Click here. Or here. That is all.

Courtney Lee and Chris Douglas-Roberts fighting to be Nets’ starting shooting guard. Courtney Lee is a player. He can shoot, score and defend, and he’s still troubled by Orlando’s decision to trade him away. That layup he missed in the Finals was no gimme. By the time he was in position to release the ball, his entire torso was behind the backboard. It’s a shame that’s what people remember of Lee from last season. This battle may go deeper into camp, but Lee has more talent and should be starting for the Nets this season.

Replacement refs aren’t up to snuff. Last night in the Rockets-Celtics game, 75 fouls were called and 102 free throws were shot. This is astounding. NBA refs get a bad rap. Basketball is a tough game to officiate because there is so much contact on any given possession. Refs have quite a bit of leeway, which can lead to inconsistency from game to game and from crew to crew.

HC Don Nelson plans to use Stephen Curry as a starter…at times. He says it’s going to be a matchup thing because Curry is so good. So look for Curry to start when the opponent also has a couple of smallish guards in the starting lineup. But wouldn’t a Monta Ellis/Stephen Curry backcourt create huge matchup problems on the other end of the court? I think most off guards would have a tough time getting back in transition to cover Curry on the wing.

When will the Milwaukee Bucks get a new arena? I grew up outside of Milwaukee and remember when the Bradley Center was state of the art. Needless to say, that was a while ago. The Bucks are in a tough spot because with the recession, they’re going to have a tough time making money this season unless the team is playoff-caliber. Given the environment, neither the city nor the franchise are going to want to pay for an arena, so there’s a real chance that the Bucks’ owner — Senator Herb Kohl — sells the team in the next few years. It would be a shame, because Bucks fans are great when the team is good (or at least mediocre).

Delonte West leaves the team…again. Other than maybe the Lakers, the Cavs are probably the best equipped to handle this kind of drama during training camp. With the whole LeBron/Shaq honeymoon, eyes are elsewhere, but West has the potential to become a distraction as the season wears on. He’s too good to cut loose, but not so good that he deserves special treatment. It’s going to be interesting to see how the Cavs handle West if he continues to miss time.

…and it was an unexcused absence.

Details at ESPN.

When asked about his eventful summer, West gave the ol’ no comment-comment. (Cleveland Plain-Dealer)

“You have to respect the legal process,” West said, repeating similar comments by Cavs GM Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown. “I understand there [are] a lot of questions. Right now what I want to focus on is this team and playing basketball. Once details come out surrounding the situation, you’ll see that it is not as big as some are making it. It is bad timing right before training camp, unfortunately, but all we can do is focus on basketball right now.”

“I’m back taking my meds and everything,” he said. “I’m focused on basketball. I’m dealing with some issues. I get highs and get lows. But all the last year I’ve been consistent being in a nice . . . routine. I was in a routine that I got out of this summer. I got away from it.”

Sounds like he has his head on straight again…or at least as straight as it can be.

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote an interesting article on troubled Cavs’ guard Delonte West, who was arrested on weapons charges last week in Maryland. West was carrying three guns (including a shotgun concealed in a guitar case) while riding a motorcycle.

West may or may not face some jail time, depending upon how the legal system views his case.

The Cavaliers will do everything within their power to help West, who has admitted to a history of depression and a bipolar mood disorder. With the blessing of the team, West missed 10 days of training camp last season when he went into a treatment center for his mental illness. The primary concern for Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, General Manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Brown is to work with West and his doctors, creating the best environment for the 26-year-old guard to handle his emotions.

What the Cavs don’t know is how many games he can play, or if he can quickly get a grip on his emotional state. They don’t know if he will have another setback, or how he will react to his arrest and legal issues.
The image of West on a Can-am Spyder motorcycle with shotgun stashed in a guitar case slung over his back — and a Beretta 9 mm in the waist band of his pants along with a Ruger 357 Magnum strapped to his leg — is scary to anyone who cares about him.

He was carrying all that firepower for protection, West’s father told the Washington Post. But it’s never wise for someone who is emotionally troubled to be so heavily armed.

By the sounds of things, this wasn’t just another troubled athlete without the brain capacity to realize that he shouldn’t be carrying a small arsenal on him. West has real issues and he needs real help.

Hopefully the Cavs or whomever can provide him with that help and he can get a hold of his life.

The News-Herald follows up on the Delonte West shotgun-in-a-guitar-case story.

Timberwolves guard Sebastian Telfair was suspended for three games for having a loaded gun in his possession.

Don’t be shocked if West is not eligible to play for several games this season. Could his possible suspension be as long as 10 games? Are you glad the Cavs signed Anthony Parker now?

He’s not a bad guy. He’s not a Pacman Jones. He’s a guy who has issues.

Ironically, West was within his rights to carry the shotgun. It’s the two handguns that have him in trouble.

I agree that West is not a bad guy. He’s odd, but likable, and he’s a key player for the Cavs. He’ll likely serve a suspension, and may serve some time.