Mavs End Delonte Suspension: 'Back On Track'

I asked coach Rick Carlisle this afternoon if Delonte West fully understood the coach's motivation in the Monday night suspension handed him by the team. Rick told me he did. I asked GM Donnie Nelson if the Tuesday meeting with Delonte went well enough to lift the suspension. Donnie tells me it did. End of suspension.

Dallas Mavericks bosses Rick Carlisle and Donnie Nelson visited with Delonte West on Tuesday following an angry incident in the post-game locker room after Monday's preseason win over Houston at the AAC. The Mavs had immediately suspended West for "conduct detrimental to the team'' and promised to work to "resolve the situation quickly'' in the Tuesday meeting, as Carlisle said.

"He's been suspended and we're going to talk to him today a little bit later, Donnie and I, and hopefully get it resolved quickly,'' Carlisle said. "It was a conduct issue and we're addressing it.''

Consider it addressed.

"We're back on track, Fish,'' Nelson told me on Tuesday evening.

A trio of things could've been at play with the problem: One observer tells us West was unhappy when he left the floor on Monday, possibly over having played just 17 minutes in the game. Additionally, Monday was his mother's birthday, a seemingly emotional time for Delonte. And third, West deals with bipolar disorder, which can be managed with medication but can result in outbursts when not properly managed.

Now it seems West, a fan favorite will play in Wednesday's home game against the Suns. I've said often that Delonte's hard-knocks story can make him an unorthodox but effective leader in the Dallas room.

He now gets another shot to prove that.