Here’s something interesting: How should the media handle the recent well-documented off-the-court struggles of former Saint Joe’s star Delonte West? Cleveland Scene, an alternative weekly newspaper based exactly where its names says it’s based, explored that topic in recent days. More after the jump.

Here’s a nut graph from the Cleveland Scene story:

How do you couch analysis or report information when the affliction is mental, not physical? The brain, not a knee? With little to report other than West’s whereabouts and official status with the team, reporters are left with judgment calls that journalism school didn’t cover.

The paper’s report goes on to document a largely overlooked incident in the Cavaliers’ locker room before an Oct. 6 preseason game. It seems West, who has bipolar disorder, angrily and inexplicably shouted expletives at a reporter who had simply said hello to him. And while there were 10 or so reporters who witnessed it, none wrote about it. There was a blog that did report what happened, but that post has since been taken down, without explanation.

The incident — and the way the media have chosen to handle it — encapsulates the difficulty of reporting an outburst (and other examples of seemingly abberant behavior) by an athlete when that athlete suffers from a mental illness and may in fact not have any control over what he’s doing. Clearly, West’s situation calls for a greater degree of sensitivity than your usual crimes and misdemeanors. At the same time, however, reporters should feel obligated to report the news accurately, objectively and within proper context without fear of losing access to team officials.

We said just after West’s arrest that this story could get interesting. It seems it’s only just starting to.

Links: Delonte and his troubles [BIG FIVE POST]
How should the media handle Delonte? [Cleveland Scene]
Delonte arrested [BIG FIVE POST]