West’s Reply Revives Unverified Rumor About Gloria James

Delonte West’s brief response to a question about an unverified rumor involving Gloria James has renewed discussion of an allegation he denied in 2012. At a Brand Risk 16 press conference in Miami on Wednesday, comedian Supa Hot Fire asked West whether he had been involved with the mother of his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James. West replied, “A gentleman never tells.” The exchange was recorded at a promotional event ahead of West’s scheduled boxing match against former NBA player Michael Beasley. The answer does not establish that the alleged relationship occurred, and the supplied reporting offers no independent evidence supporting the rumor. It also did not clarify whether West was joking, declining to discuss the subject or intending something else. The allegation dates to 2010, when West and James were teammates in Cleveland. Online speculation later connected it to the Cavaliers’ playoff elimination and James’ performance, but those claims were not substantiated. The renewed attention follows West’s earlier public denial: in a 2012 interview, he said “something like that never happened.” That year, a lawyer for the James family, Frederick Nance, also...