WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AND CONTENT
Extremely disturbing videos went viral over the weekend of 36-year-old former NBA player Delonte West being viciously beaten up in the middle of busy street in Washington DC by an unidentified man.
One of the videos starts from the vantage point of a driver shooting video of the two men in the street, as traffic around them comes to a stop. A man wearing jeans and a black leather jacket is seen delivering punches to West’s midsection as West is lying motionless on the ground, and then further slams West’s body on the pavement, before finally brutally stomping West’s head twice.
The second video shows West sitting on the curb shirtless, appearing to be in handcuffs or zip ties with his hands behind his back being questioned by an unidentified man who may or may not be a police offer.
West tells the man that someone had made an ‘assassination on my life’, and then when the man asked West what spurred the attack West responds that the assailant had a gun, and then repeatedly blurts ‘I DON’T GIVE A F***’ when asked details about the weapon.
West then goes on an expletive filled rant about how he’s the ‘leader of the Navy Seals’, ‘leader of all the gangs’ and the ‘motherf**king President’.
TMZ Sports spoke with West’s former agent Aaron Goodwin, who confirmed that the person in the video was indeed West.
West played 9 seasons in the NBA from 2004-2012, but was most remembered for his time as LeBron James’ teammate on powerful late 2000’s Cleveland Cavaliers teams who had back-to-back 60-win seasons in 2009 and 2010.
Perhaps West’s most notable time as a basketball player, however, was his time in college at Saint Joseph’s, when West and All-American teammate Jameer Nelson captivated the nation with a 30-2 season that saw them reach the Elite Eight.
The NBA and sports community quickly came out to support West after the video was mysteriously leaked.