The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the middle of practice when Delonte West began packing his things. His mind was elsewhere, and the former guard was dealing with a personal crisis that had left him ready to walk away. LeBron James could have stayed on the court. Instead, he left practice and sat with his teammate in the locker room for about an hour.

West would remember that moment years later when talking about the people who stood by him during some of the hardest periods of his life. But more than a decade after those Cleveland days, another detail has surfaced, and it comes from West himself.

“A lot of guys that I played with, LeBron, he’s my – him and his family has called,” West shared. “He calls my mom to make sure I’m okay. Miss James, Miss Gloria, she calls my mom to make sure she’s still the same. ‘Tell my son I seen him. You better get it together. Don’t make me come check on him.'”

The comment came during West’s August 23 appearance on N3on’s Kick livestream, when the former Cavaliers guard was asked about the people from his NBA days who had stayed in touch or supported him through his personal struggles. The answer offered a strikingly different picture of a relationship that has spent years being defined by one of the most persistent rumors in LeBron’s career.

That history is what makes West’s latest comments so striking. In May 2010, an anonymous email published by the gossip blog Terez Owens alleged a sexual relationship between West and Gloria James. The claim was never independently verified by a credible news organization. Four days later, attorney Frederick Nance, representing LeBron and Gloria James, sent the site a cease-and-desist letter calling the allegation “categorically false and per se defamatory.”

West eventually addressed the rumor himself. In a 2012 interview with the Dallas Morning News, he rejected it outright: “Everywhere I go, first question, ‘Don’t tell me you did that.’… If we want to continue to grow as a human race, what are we teaching our kids if we try to make humor and fun out of stuff like that? Number one, something like that never happened. I don’t know where they got that from.”

Yet the rumor survived. It became part of the larger story surrounding LeBron’s final playoff run with Cleveland, especially after the Cavaliers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in six games. The internet found an easy explanation for James’ struggles, even though there was never credible evidence tying the rumor to his performance.

How the rumor became tied to LeBron’s worst night

The timing helped the rumor spread. Cleveland entered the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals as the top seed, only to fall to Boston in six games. James averaged 26.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists during the series, but Game 5 became one of the most heavily criticized performances of his first Cleveland era.

James scored only 15 points on 3-of-14 shooting in a 120-88 loss. Two days later, with Cleveland’s season on the line, he answered with 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 6. He had also been dealing with a right elbow injury during the series, including a sprain and bone bruise that required multiple MRI examinations.

None of that proves the internet rumor had anything to do with his performance. In fact, there is no verified evidence that it did. But the combination of the rumor, James’ struggles and Cleveland’s shocking elimination gave the story a life far beyond the anonymous post where it began.

Naysayers take back their words against LeBron James

The point is, LeBron James is no stranger to detractors. In fact, many analysts have often called him the most scrutinized player in the league’s history. However, given the gravity of the rumors, the scrutiny surrounding him reached an entirely different level. Therefore, someone commented:

“I’m glad he continues to set the record straight…that sh– was started within the franchise to antagonize Bron…His mom would never blatantly do something that outlandish to tarnish Bron’s legacy.”

The Delonte West and Gloria James story traces back to an anonymous internet post from May 2010. No credible evidence ever confirmed the allegation. Neither West nor Gloria James acknowledged it as true. And both have publicly rejected the claim. But somehow, everyone linked LeBron’s 2010 playoff performance to the then-ongoing rumors.

So, a fan wrote, “This is why you never listen to bs on the internet. Salute Bron. True boss. He never once spoke about the Delonte situation, whether it was the nasty rumors or the fact they were still in touch.” They added, “Sincere charity is never paraded. Giants don’t entertain gnats. Respect.”

Meanwhile, another one said, “The way he checked on Delonte when nobody else would, that’s the realest thing I’ve seen all week.” Even when the conversation about LeBron James holding the most power in the locker room continues, one fact remains unchanged. The former Lakers star always keeps a check on his former teammates.

“Real support shows up when people need it most,” someone commented on X. West’s post-NBA journey gives that support another layer. His bipolar disorder diagnosis, 2009 arrest and years of highly publicized struggles became part of a story that was often consumed through photographs, viral clips and headlines rather than through West’s own voice. There were also people who helped him privately, including Mark Cuban, who assisted West in entering rehabilitation in 2020.

West’s latest comments do not erase those struggles, and they do not prove that the James family was responsible for his recovery. They show something narrower but still meaningful: according to West, the relationship never disappeared.

Lastly, a fan said, “LeGoat is a nice person, man.” Well, you truly can’t say, you didn’t see any “Le-” name coming for the Akron Hammer! Especially when such a rare story came to light.

LeBron had already been there when West needed him

During West’s Cleveland years, his personal struggles occasionally spilled into the team’s world. In one incident described by West years later, he began packing his belongings during training camp and appeared ready to leave. James stepped away from practice and spent about an hour with him in the locker room.

“D, I don’t know where you’re going or what you’re about to do, but I’ll be right here when you get back.”

The words are easy to overlook now because the story happened nearly two decades ago. But they change the meaning of West’s latest comments. The phone calls West described in 2026 were not the first time he had portrayed LeBron as someone who showed up when things became difficult.

There was another moment that West recalled from his Cleveland days. After a road loss, West suffered an emotional breakdown on the airport tarmac and initially refused to board the team plane. James got off the aircraft to help him, while team associate Randy Mims and late teammate Lorenzen Wright also stayed with him.

Lorenzen Wright eventually embraced West and helped him onto the plane, remaining beside him during the flight. The moment was far removed from the cameras and headlines that usually followed LeBron. It was simply a teammate refusing to leave another teammate behind.

West’s NBA career eventually moved on from Cleveland. He played for the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks before continuing his career overseas and in the NBA Development League. But the difficult parts of his life did not disappear when his playing career did.

West was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2008 and later faced a series of highly publicized personal and legal struggles. In 2009, he was arrested in Maryland on weapons charges. Years later, videos and photographs of West in visible distress circulated widely online, turning deeply personal struggles into public spectacle.

In 2020, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban helped West enter a Florida rehabilitation facility after finding him at a Dallas gas station. West’s latest chapter has looked different. In March 2026, he publicly marked 100 days of continuous sobriety while receiving treatment in Florida. By August, he had confirmed that he was living in West Palm Beach and working to rebuild his life.

That makes the timing of his latest comments important. West is not discussing a forgotten teammate from the middle of a successful NBA career. He is talking about the people who remained connected to him through years when his life was often anything but stable.

It would be easy to turn West’s comments into another argument about LeBron’s character. That would miss the more interesting part.

The 2010 rumor became so powerful that it changed the way many people remembered the relationship between West and James. Yet West’s own accounts over the years point in another direction. He remembered a Cleveland team that felt like family. He remembered James leaving practice to sit with him during a crisis. He remembered James getting off a plane when West was struggling. And now, he has revealed that the concern did not necessarily end when their time as teammates did.

None of that changes what happened on a basketball court in 2010. It does not rewrite Cleveland’s loss to Boston. More importantly, it does not require anyone to believe an old internet rumor that was never substantiated and was explicitly denied by West.

It simply adds another piece to a relationship that the public has spent years viewing through the wrong lens.

There is no need for another viral slogan to explain what West’s comments mean. His story is more powerful when left in its own context.

Sixteen years ago, an anonymous internet allegation helped turn two former Cavaliers teammates into the center of one of the NBA’s most persistent rumors. West later denied that allegation himself. Years after that, he described LeBron as a major reason the Cleveland locker room felt like a family.

Now, in 2026, West is describing something that happened away from the basketball court entirely: LeBron James and Gloria James continuing to check on him and his mother while his own life went through some of its hardest chapters.

The old rumor made noise. West’s latest story is much quieter. And perhaps that is exactly why it stands out.