Crush of the Week.

C'mon, Just One Year of Delonte West Isn't Enough.

Dear Delonte West,

How's it going, my man? Pretty good? Hope so, dude. I really do. Even if I doubt that it's true.

Listen: I know you're probably pretty down in the dumps right now. Y'know, what with the Mavericks getting eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs and all. That totally sucked. Sorry about that. Really. No one wanted to see the defending champs go down in the first round. Not around here, anyway. Blinded by naivete or not, we were all hoping for a repeat run at the title from the hometown Mavs. Just to be clear: We don't blame you for it not happening. That much falls more on the shoulders of Tyson Chandler following the money and Lamar Odom following the deep, dark hole into depression.

You're all good. Better than good, even. No sense in beating around the bush any longer, bro: The very point of this here note is to let you know that we think you're actually pretty great.

You're a character, that's for sure. And, no, we're not even talking about that whole thing with Lebron James' mom when you and the Prodigal Son were teammates back in Cleveland. We know now that it didn't happen. We think.

No, we're more impressed with the fact that you tweet out pictures of your vomit-stained T-shirts, that you may or may not have been banned from the White House, that you applied for a job at a furniture store when the NBA was in a lockout and that you sometimes get pulled over by the cops while tripping on some drugs.

Also? That you give players on opposing teams wet willies. Because that's just hilarious.

Point is, you're incredibly entertaining. And you're a pretty solid player, too. Your 9.3 points per game this season were an important part of the Mavericks' often stunted offense. With another year under your belt in coach Rick Carlisle's system, you're only likely to improve upon numbers like those.

Well, if that extra year happens, that is. We're not dummies. We know you only signed a single-season contract with the Mavericks heading into this shortened NBA season. And, OK, maybe you out-played your $1.4 million pay.

But we'd be remiss if we didn't ask you to stick things out here for another year. Because you're awesome, Delonte. We like you a lot. We want you to stay here. For basketball purposes, sure, but also for entertainment ones. You're like a one-man representation of the '90s Cowboys. And you know how much we love the Cowboys around here.

Love,
The Central Track Staff