"Don't feed into it"- 4x champion opens up on how LeBron James squashed the rumors about Delonte West and his mom
Most would agree that LA Lakers star forward LeBron James has done a very good job staying out of controversy throughout his illustrious 20-year career.
However, back in 2010, a rumor started that James’ then-Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Delonte West was sleeping with his mom Gloria James. Despite the ensuing controversy, James never acknowledged the rumors personally. According to four-time NBA champion John Salley, this was the right move by James.
During an interview with VladTV in 2020, Salley explained that smart people don’t feed into false rumors involving them:
“Yeah, they were saying something like that because they wanted a story, they were trying to get in between,” Salley said.
“I remember. LeBron didn’t say anything, had no words for it. And he learned. Some smart people realize when there’s rumors out there about you, don’t feed into it and it won’t survive.”
How did the Delonte West-LeBron James mom rumors start?
The rumors of Delonte West sleeping with LeBron James’ mom were reportedly first published by the sports gossip blog “Terez Owens.” The rumors started after James’ Cleveland Cavaliers lost their 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Boston Celtics 4-2. The blog said that sources informed them that West was sleeping with Gloria James and attributed the controversy as a possible reason for Cleveland’s loss:
“In what is truly a disturbing story, comes exclusive Terez Owens news that LeBron's teammate Delonte West is sleeping with LeBron's Mother Gloria James ... Yes, this is the purported story coming from my source in Cleveland,” the blog wrote.
“My source explains the following: My uncle is the general contractor at the Q and has been for the last seven years. He’s good friends with a lot of guys at the Q, including some of the bigger boys in the organization, and knows Dan Gilbert personally.
"My uncle has been told that Delonte has been having interactions with Gloria James (LeBron’s mom) for some time now. Somehow LeBron found out before Game 4 and it destroyed their chemistry and divided the team. I am not making this up, I wish it wasn’t true but it happened.’”
James' attorney later sent a cease-and-desist letter to Terez Owens, saying that there was no truth to the rumor. In an interview with “Dallas Morning News” in 2012, West also denied having any relationship with James' mom:
“Number one, something like that never happened,” West said.
“I don't know where they got that from. For a strong Black woman like that, for people to try to tear her down, that's terrible. That's terrible in so many ways.”
Delonte West later fell out of the league in 2012. The eight-year NBA veteran has since battled with drug addiction, mental health issues and homelessness.
Meanwhile, LeBron James went on to win four championships with Miami, Cleveland and LA. So most would agree with John Salley that James was right to leave the rumors alone.
Also read: LeBron James seemingly unaffected by Dillon Brooks’ chatter, says he doesn’t need to ‘make statements’