Company name	KFC Corporation
Company logo
Company type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Genre	Southern fried chicken
Foundation	1930 (original) 1952 (franchise)
Founder	Harland Sanders
Location	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Key people	Roger Eaton, President Harvey R. Brownlea, COO James O'Reilly, VP for Marketing
Industry	Fast food
Products	Fried chicken, grilled chicken, related Southern foods
Revenue	$520.3 million USD (2007)
Num employees	24,000 (2007) of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global Restaurants Inc.

today Since that time, the chain has been sold three more times: to Heublein in 1971, to R.J. Reynolds in 1982 and most recently to PepsiCo in 1986, which made it part of its Tricon Global Restaurants division, which in turn was spun off in 1997, and has now been renamed to Yum! Brands. Additionally, Colonel Sanders' nephew, Lee Cummings, took his own Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises (and a chicken recipe of his own) and converted them to his own "spin-off" restaurant chain, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken.

Today, some of the older KFC restaurants have become famous in their own right. One such restaurant is located in Marietta, Georgia. This store is notable for a tall sign that looks like a chicken. The sign, known locally as the Big Chicken, was built for an earlier fast-food restaurant on the site called Johnny Reb's Chick, Chuck and Shake. It is often used as a travel reference point in the Atlanta area by locals and pilots.

The secret recipe

The Colonel's secret flavor recipe of 11 herbs and spices that creates the famous "finger lickin' good" chicken remains a trade secret. Portions of the secret spice mix are made at different locations in the United States, and the only complete, handwritten copy of the recipe is kept in a vault in corporate headquarters. On September 9, 2008, the one complete copy was temporarily moved to an undisclosed location under extremely tight security while KFC revamped the security at its headquarters. Before the move, KFC disclosed the following details about the recipe and its security arrangements: The recipe, which includes exact amounts of each component, is written in pencil on a single sheet of notebook paper and signed by Sanders.

The recipe was locked in a filing cabinet with two separate combination locks. The cabinet also included vials of each of the 11 herbs and spices used.

Only two executives had access to the recipe at any one time. KFC refuses to disclose the names and titles of either executive.

One of the two executives said that no one had come close to guessing the contents of the secret recipe, and added that the actual recipe would include some surprises.

On February 9, 2009, the secret recipe returned to KFC's Louisville headquarters in a more secure, computerized vault guarded by motion detectors and security cameras. Reportedly, the paper has yellowed and the handwriting is now faint.

In 1983, writer William Poundstone examined the recipe in his book Big Secrets. He reviewed Sanders' patent application, and advertised in college newspapers for present or former employees willing to share their knowledge. From the former he deduced that Sanders had diverged from other common fried-chicken recipes by varying the amount of oil used with the amount of chicken being cooked, and starting the cooking at a higher temperature (about ) for the first minute or so and then lowering it to for the remainder of the cooking time. Several of Poundstone's contacts also provided samples of the seasoning mix, and a food lab found that it consisted solely of sugar, flour, salt, black pepper and monosodium glutamate (MSG). He concluded that it was entirely possible that, in the years since Sanders sold the chain, later owners had begun skimping on the recipe to save costs. Following his buyout in 1964, Colonel Sanders himself expressed anger at such changes, saying:

Ron Douglas, author of the book America's Most Wanted Recipes, also claims to have figured out KFC's secret recipe.

Products

Packaging

The famous paper bucket that KFC uses for its larger sized orders of chicken and has come to signify the company was originally created by Wendy's restaurants founder Dave Thomas. Thomas was originally a franchisee of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken and operated several outlets in the Columbus, Ohio area. His reasoning behind using the paper packaging was that it helped keep the chicken crispy by away excess moisture. Thomas was also responsible for the creation of the famous rotating bucket sign that came to be used at most KFC locations in the US.

Menu items

This is a list of menu items sold at KFC.

Chicken

KFC's specialty is fried chicken served in various forms. KFC's primary product is pressure-fried pieces of chicken made with the original recipe. The other chicken offering, extra crispy, is made using a garlic marinade and double dipping the chicken in flour before deep frying in a standard industrial kitchen type machine.

Kentucky Grilled Chicken – This marinated grilled chicken is targeted towards health-conscious customers. It features marinated breasts, thighs, drumsticks, and wings that are coated with seasonings before being grilled. It has less fat, calories, and sodium than the Original Recipe fried chicken. Introduced in April 2009.

KFC has two lines of sandwiches: its "regular" chicken sandwiches and its Snackers line. The regular sandwiches are served on either a sesame seed or corn dusted roll and are made from either whole breast fillets (fried or roasted), chopped chicken in a sauce or fried chicken strips. The Snackers line are value priced items that consist of chicken strips and various toppings. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand, sandwiches are referred to as "burgers"; there is the chicken fillet burger (a chicken breast fillet coated in an original-recipe coating with salad garnish and mayonnaise) and a Zinger Burger (as with the former but with a spicier coating and salsa). Both of these are available as "tower" variants, which include a slice of cheese and a hash brown.

* KFC considers its Double Down product a sandwich in spite of containing no bread.

A variety of smaller finger food products are available at KFC including chicken strips, wings, nuggets and popcorn chicken. These products can be ordered plain or with various sauces, including several types of barbecue sauces and buffalo sauce. They also offer potato wedges.

Several pies have been made available from KFC. The Pot Pie is a savory pie made with chicken, gravy and vegetables. In the second quarter of 2006, KFC introduced its variation on Shepherd's pie called the Famous Bowl. Served in a plastic bowl, it is layered with mashed potatoes or rice, gravy, corn, popcorn chicken, and cheese, and is served with a biscuit. The bowl had been available at KFC's special test market store in Louisville since the third quarter of 2005.

The KFC Twister is a wrap that consists of either chicken strips or roasted chicken, tomato, lettuce and (pepper) mayonnaise wrapped in a tortilla. In Europe, the Twister is sold in two varieties: 1) the Grilled Twister (chicken strips), and 2) the Grilled Mexican twister/Spicy Toasted Twister (UK) (chicken breast supplemented by tortilla chips and salsa, UK: adds only salsa to pepper mayonnaise), KFC Fillers are a sub, available in four varieties over the summer period in Australia.

Shish kebab – in several markets KFC sells kebabs.

Kentucky Barbecued Chicken – barbecued chicken dipped in the original recipe

Wrapstar is a variant of the KFC Twister, consisting of chicken strips with salsa, cheese, salad, pepper mayonnaise and other ingredients, contained in a compressed tortilla.

Other products

In some international locations, KFC may sell hamburgers, pork ribs or fish. In the U.S., KFC began offering the Fish Snacker sandwich during Lent in 2006. The Fish Snacker consists of a rectangular patty of Alaskan Pollock on a small bun, and is the fifth KFC menu item in the Snacker category. Some international locations also may sell KFC 'Mashies' - balls of mashed potato cooked in original recipe batter

Three types of salads (which can be topped with roasted or fried chicken) are available at KFC: Caesar, house, and BLT salads (in the US).

The Boneless Banquet

Zinger Burger – A regular sized burger which regularly consists of a boneless fillet of hot and spicy chicken, lettuce and mayonnaise in a burger bun. Cheese, tomato, bacon and pineapple can be added upon request. Barbecue sauce can also replace/join the mayonnaise.

Chili Cheese Fries – By 2007, 2 former KFC/A&W; Restaurants locations in Berlin and Cologne, Germany had reverted to KFC-only locations and the third location in Garbsen (by Hannover) was closed in 2005. The only remnant from the former A&W; menu are the Chili Cheese Fries which were added to the systemwide KFC Germany menu. Parfait desserts – "Little Bucket Parfaits" in varieties such as Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Crème (once called the Colonel's Little Fudge Bucket), Lemon Crème and Strawberry Shortcake are available at most locations in the US.

Sara Lee Desserts – Available in either Cookies and Cream Cheesecake or Choc Caramel Mousse.

Krushers, available in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. These are drinks containing "real bits". They include "classic krushers", "smoothie krushers" and "fruit krushers". Selected outlets are now equipped with "Krushbars" to serve these drinks.

Sides

Other than fried chicken, many KFC restaurants serve side dishes like coleslaw, various potato-based items (including potato wedges, french fries and mashed potatoes with gravy), biscuits, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, macaroni salad, rice, steamed vegetables and corn on the cob.

Discontinued products

The Colonel's Rotisserie Gold – This product was introduced in the 1990s as a response to the Boston Market chain's roasted chicken products, and a healthier mindset of the general public avoiding fried food. Purportedly made from a "lost" Col. Sanders recipe, it was sold as a whole roaster or a half bird.

Tender Roast Chicken – This product was an offshoot of "The Colonel's Rotisserie Gold". Instead of whole and half birds, customers were given quarter roasted chicken pieces. For a time, customers could request chicken "original", "Extra Tasty Crispy", or "Tender Roast".

Chicken Little sandwich – a value oriented sandwich that sold for US$0.39 in the U.S. during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was a small chicken patty with mayonnaise on a small roll, similar to White Castle's mini chicken sandwich.

Extra Tasty Crispy (ETC) – Chicken much like the Extra Crispy served today, except ETC was prepared using chicken that had been soaking for 15 minutes in a special marinade machine. There is some speculation that the marinade may have been made with trans-fats, and KFC confesses to no longer use trans-fats in their chicken, the known ingredients were garlic and chicken stock. In the summer of 2007, KFC started marketing the chicken just as "Extra Crispy" without the marinade.

Kentucky Nuggets were a chicken nugget product available at KFC from December 1984 until 1996. No reason has been given for their discontinuation. It is still sold in Australia.

Smokey Chipotle – Introduced in April 2008. The chicken was dipped in chipotle sauce then doubled breaded and fried. It has been discontinued since August 2008.

Nutritional value

KFC formerly used partially hydrogenated oil in its fried foods. This oil contains relatively high levels of trans fat, which increases the risk of heart disease. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed a court case against KFC, with the aim of making it use other types of oils or make sure customers know about trans fat content immediately before they buy food.

In October 2006, KFC announced that it would begin frying its chicken in trans fat-free oil. This would also apply to their potato wedges and other fried foods, however, the biscuits, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes would still contain trans fat. Trans fat-free soybean oil was introduced in all KFC restaurants in the U.S. by April 30, 2007. CSPI announced that it would immediately drop its lawsuit against KFC and was hopeful that this would create a ripple effect on other restaurants or fast food chains that prepare food rich in trans fat. "If KFC, which deep-fries almost everything, can get the artificial trans fat out of its frying oil, anyone can," CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson said in a statement.

Advertising

Early television advertisements for KFC regularly featured Colonel Sanders licking his fingers and talking to the viewer about his secret recipe, and by the 1960s both the Colonel and the chain's striped bucket had become well-known. The bucket as product placement can be seen in the hands of both Annette Funicello and Dwayne Hickman in 1965's How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and was also featured prominently in the 1968 Peter Sellers vehicle, The Party. The Colonel made appearances as himself in Jerry Lewis's The Big Mouth (1967), Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blast-Off Girls (1967) and Al Adamson's Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), as well as an appearance in 1968 on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

Despite his death in 1980, Sanders remains a key symbol of the company in its advertising and branding.

Before he became a platinum-selling pop star in the 1970s, Barry Manilow sang the commercial jingle "Get a Bucket of Chicken" , which was later included on Barry Manilow Live as part of "A Very Strange Medley."

Throughout the mid 1980s, KFC called on Will Vinton Studios to produce a series of humorous, claymation ads. These most often featured a cartoon-like chicken illustrating the poor food quality of competing food chains, mentioning prolonged freezing and other negative aspects. TV ads also featured Foghorn Leghorn advising Henry Hawk to visit the restaurant for better chicken.

In the 1980s, KFC was an associate sponsor for Junior Johnson's NASCAR Winston Cup Series cars, with such drivers as Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, and Terry Labonte.

In 1997, KFC briefly re-entered the NASCAR Winston Cup Series as sponsor of the #26 Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet with driver Rich Bickle at the Brickyard 400. and KFC]] By the late 1990s, the stylized likeness of Colonel Sanders as the KFC logo had been modified. KFC ads began featuring an animated version of "the Colonel" voiced by Randy Quaid with a lively and enthusiastic attitude. He would often start out saying "The Colonel here!" and moved across the screen with a cane in hand. The Colonel was often shown dancing, singing, and knocking on the TV screen as he spoke to the viewer about the product.

Trailer located in Sargodha, Pakistan]] The animated Colonel is uncommon today. Still using a humorous slant, the current KFC campaign revolves mostly around customers enjoying the food. It also features a modified version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" as the theme song for practically all its commercials, though the restaurant actually hails from Kentucky.

In 2006, KFC claimed to have made the first logo visible from outer space, though Readymix has had one since 1965. KFC says "It marked the official debut of a massive global re-image campaign that will contemporize 14,000-plus KFC restaurants in over 80 countries over the next few years." The logo was built from 65,000 one-foot-square tiles, and it took six days on site to construct in early November. The logo was placed in the Mojave Desert near Rachel, Nevada. It is located in the northern section of Rachel, Nevada at .

Many KFC locations are co-located with one or more of Yum! Brands restaurants, Long John Silver's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, or A&W; Restaurants. Many of these locations behave like a single restaurant, offering a single menu with food items from both restaurants.

One of KFC's latest advertisements is a commercial advertising its "wicked crunch box meal". The commercial features a fictional black metal band called "Hellvetica" performing live, the lead singer then swallows fire. The commercial then shows the lead singer at a KFC eating the "wicked crunch box meal" and saying "Oh man that is hot".

In 2007, the original, non-acronymic Kentucky Fried Chicken name was resurrected and began to reappear on company marketing literature and food packaging, as well as some restaurant signage.

In 2010, an advertisement was shown in Australia showing an Australian cricket fan giving West Indies fans KFC chicken to keep them quiet. The ad sparked a debate over racism in the ad, suggesting that all black people eat fried chicken. Fried chicken was eaten by black slaves because it was cheap and easy to make. Though KFC stated that it was "misinterpreted by a segment of people in the US", the ad was later pulled from TV. However, several Australian commentators have expressed the opinion that the ad is not racist, because this is not a racial stereotype in Australia and the cricket fans in the ad are not African American, but West Indies cricket supporters (the West Indies cricket team was playing a Test cricket series against the Australian cricket team at the time of the ad).

Also in 2010, Yum! signed a naming rights deal with the Louisville Arena Authority for Louisville's new downtown arena, which opened on October 10 of that year as the KFC Yum! Center.

Criticism

Environmental concerns

KFC in the US has been accused by Greenpeace of a large destruction of the Amazon Rainforest, because the supply of soy used for chicken food that KFC receives from Cargill has been traced back to the European KFC. Cargill has reportedly been exporting soy illegally for several years. The Greenpeace organization researched the issue and brought it to the attention of the parent company YUM! Brands, Inc. The parent company denied the illegal operation, and said that their supply of soy is grown in parts of Brazil.

Trademark disputes

In 1971, Sanders sued Heublein Inc., KFC's parent company at the time, over the alleged misuse of his image in promoting products he had not helped develop. In 1975, Heublein Inc. unsuccessfully sued Sanders for libel after he publicly referred to their gravy as "sludge" with a "wallpaper taste".

In May 2007, KFC (Great Britain) requested that Tan Hill Inn, in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, UK refrain from using the term 'Family Feast' to describe its Christmas menu, although this problem was quickly resolved with the pub being allowed to continue use of the term.

Wages and working conditions

KFC workers and allies picketing the store]]

In New Zealand, KFC youth workers earn NZ$10.13 an hour. Staff at the Balmoral, Auckland store went on strike for two hours on December 3, 2005 after Restaurant Brands, the franchise holder, offered no wage increase in contract negotiations. In March 2006, Restaurant Brands agreed to phase out youth rates in New Zealand, although no date was set.

Many stores in western Canada are unionized with the Canadian Auto Workers, and as a result many non-franchise stores in western Canada pay higher than minimum wage.

Animal rights

Since 2003, animal rights and welfare organizations, led by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), have been protesting KFC’s treatment of the animals used for its products. These groups claim that the recommendations of the KFC Animal Welfare Advisory Council have been ignored. Adele Douglass, a former member of the council, said in an SEC filing reported on by the Chicago Times, that KFC "never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used."

KFC responded by saying the chickens used in its products are bought from suppliers like Perdue Farms, Tyson Foods, and Pilgrim's Pride, and that these suppliers are routinely monitored for animal welfare violations. Several PETA undercover investigations and videos of these and other KFC suppliers purporting to show chickens being beaten, ripped apart, and thrown against walls contradict KFC’s claims. PETA has criticised some of the practices of chicken breeders, such as beak trimming and overcrowding, but KFC says its suppliers meets UK legal requirements. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recommends a maximum stocking density of 34 kg—around 30 chickens—per square metre, and say that in circumstances where beak trimming needs to be carried out to prevent the birds injuring each other, only one third of the beak should be trimmed "measured from the tip towards the entrance of the nostrils". PETA states that they have held more than 12,000 demonstrations at KFC outlets since 2003 because of this alleged mistreatment of chickens by KFC suppliers.

In June 2008, KFC Canada agreed to PETA's demands for better welfare standards, including favoring suppliers who use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) of chickens, and other welfare standards as well as introducing a vegan sandwich at 65% of its outlets. PETA has called off its campaign against KFC Canada, but continues to demonstrate against KFC elsewhere in the world.

Hygiene

•In February 2007, a KFC/Taco Bell outlet in New York City was found to be rat infested. A video showing the rats running wild inside the restaurant was shown on television news bulletins around the world, as well as disseminated on the internet via sites such as YouTube.

•Two KFC outlets in Sydney, Australia, were fined record amounts in 2009 for having unhygienic food preparation areas. Inspectors found layers of grease and dirt, as well as evidence of vermin. The KFC stores had been repeat offenders, and had ignored previous warnings to keep their restaurants clean. They were charged with 11 breaches of food hygiene laws.

•In 2009, a KFC outlet in Leicester Square, London was charged with 13 food hygiene charges by officials from Westminster Council, claiming a mouse was seen running across the floor and flies buzzed around their heads at the premises.

•A court case in August 2010 revealed poor hygiene at a KFC outlet in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, Australia. KFC staff admitted to the court that they would drop cooked chicken pieces on the floor, and indulge in food fights using french fries and chicken pieces. The court was told that staff did not wash their hands between handling raw chicken blood, and serving cooked chicken pieces to customers. An 11-year-old girl launched legal action against the KFC outlet, claiming she caught salmonellosis after eating a Twister at the store, which she says left her with brain damage and quadriplegia. KFC denied the girl's illness was caused by its food.

International operations

(Listed alphabetically by country) PFK (Poulet Frit Kentucky) in Quebec (肯德基)

*

*

(Franchised by Ibersol Group)

See also

List of fast food restaurants

Notes

"KFC Great American Success Story" by Bruce Schreiner (The Associated Press)

External links

KFC Official website

KFC mobile website

* Category:Yum! Brands Category:Companies based in Louisville, Kentucky Category:Companies established in 1952 Category:Fast-food chains of the United States Category:Fast-food franchises Category:Fast-food poultry restaurants Category:Kentucky cuisine Category:Laurel County, Kentucky Category:Orphan initialisms Category:Salt Lake County, Utah Category:Restaurant chains in the United States

Todd Wilbur is an American author of the Top Secret Recipe series of cook books. The books showcase knock-offs of famous foods, like McDonald's Big Mac. Wilbur has sold over 5 million books. Wilbur has appeared on MTV News, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and The Oprah Winfrey Show. In addition, Wilbur was recently featured in a lengthy interview in the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press newspaper in the 'Eat' section and revealed his methods, while effective, are not all cloak-and-dagger anymore.

Books

Top Secret Recipes

More Top Secret Recipes

Top Secret Restaurant Recipes

Top Secret Recipes Lite!

Low-Fat Top Secret Recipes

Top Secret Recipes - Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits, & Shakes

Even More Top Secret Recipes

The Best Of Top Secret Recipes (created exclusively for QVC)

Top Secret Recipes Unlocked

References

External links

Top Secret Recipes web site

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American food writers

Name	Patton Oswalt
Background	comedian, actor
Birth date	January 27, 1969 |
Birth place	Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Active	1988–present
Genre	Observational comedy, Surreal humor, Black comedy
Subject	Pop culture, American culture
Influences	Jonathan Winters, Richard Pryor, Emo Philips, Louis C.K., Bugs Bunny, Bill Hicks, Blaine Capatch, Bobcat Goldthwait, Jay Leno, Steve Martin
Spouse	Michelle Eileen McNamara (2005-), Their daughter, Alice Rigney Oswalt, was born on April 15, 2009.
Name	Oswalt, Patton
Date of birth	January 27, 1969
Place of birth	Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.

Category:1969 births Category:American atheists Category:Actors from Virginia Category:American film actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television writers Category:American voice actors Category:American video game actors Category:American comics writers Category:College of William & Mary alumni Category:Living people Category:People from Burbank, California Category:People from Portsmouth, Virginia Category:People from Loudoun County, Virginia Category:Sub Pop artists

Name	Delonte West
Caption	Delonte West during his tenure with the Cavaliers.
Position	Shooting guard
Height ft	6
Height in	3
Weight lb	180
Team	Boston Celtics
Number	13
Nationality	American
Birth date	July 26, 1983
Birth place	Washington, D.C.
High school	Eleanor Roosevelt
College	Saint Joseph's
Draft round	1
Draft pick	24
Draft year	2004
Draft team	Boston Celtics
Career start	2004
Teams	Boston Celtics (2004–2007, 2010–present)Seattle SuperSonics (2007–2008)Cleveland Cavaliers (2008–2010)

Delonte Maurice West (born July 26, 1983, in Washington, D.C.) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Boston Celtics for the second time in his career.

High school career

West went to Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he excelled at basketball. He led the Raiders to their first tournament appearance. They made it to the Maryland 4A championship, where Delonte had 22 points and 8 rebounds, but the Raiders lost 70-58. He was named Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year due to his averages of 20.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.1 steals per game. He scored double figures in all but one game his senior season. He then committed himself to Saint Joseph's University.

College career

At Saint Joseph's University he formed what was widely regarded as the best backcourt in the country along with Wooden and Naismith Award winner Jameer Nelson, averaging 18.9 points and 6.7 assists per game and shooting 41% from three-point range as a junior. His efforts helped the Hawks to go 27–0 in the regular season, and earn an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Saint Joseph's finished the season at 30–2.

NBA career

West chose to leave St. Joe's after his junior campaign and was selected by the Boston Celtics as the 24th pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. In his first season he struggled with injuries, playing a total of just 39 games, mostly coming off the bench. He averaged 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. After making the transition to point guard in his rookie season, West was named the starting point guard at the beginning of the 2005–06 season by head coach Doc Rivers.

In 2005–06, West averaged 11.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 4.6 APG. On February 12, 2006, he was named to represent the Celtics on the sophomore team for the Rookie Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend. Coincidentally, he replaced his college teammate Jameer Nelson, who withdrew because of injuries.

West was moved to the shooting guard spot in the 2006–07 season, but showed signs of difficulty early in the season. He was later moved back to the point guard position. West had some clutch shots, including a game-winning buzzer-beater against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 8, 2006, and a game-tying three pointer with 4 seconds remaining in regulation to bring the game into overtime against the New Jersey Nets on March 3, 2007. The Celtics would eventually win the game against the Nets. The next day against the Minnesota Timberwolves, West scored a career-high 31 points and made a career-high 12 free throw shots, in a double overtime Celtics victory. West scored all 31 of his points in that game during the second half and the two overtimes. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he was sharing starting minutes with Rajon Rondo.

2007–2008

On June 28, 2007 (during the 2007 NBA Draft) the Celtics traded West to the Seattle SuperSonics, along with Jeff Green (their 5th overall pick) and Wally Szczerbiak. Boston received Ray Allen and Sonics' 35th overall pick Glen Davis.

On February 21, 2008, West was part of a three-team trade that sent him, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was reunited with his Saint Joseph's teammate Dwayne Jones.

As a Cavalier, West played in 26 regular season games (starting all 26). As a Cavalier, he averaged 10.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals. He had a season high 20 points against the Boston Celtics only six days after his trade to the Cavaliers and a season-high 11 assists on March 30, 2008 against the Philadelphia 76ers. For the entire season, West played in 61 games (starting 31) and averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds.

On April 27, 2008, West made perhaps the most clutch 3-pointer of his NBA career with 5.4 seconds left in a playoff game against the Washington Wizards, in Washington. His tiebreaking game-winner took the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 3–1 lead in this first round series. In 13 playoff games, West averaged 10.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds. West scored 21 points in both Game 3 and Game 5 against the Boston Celtics.

2008–2009

On September 12, 2008, West signed a three-year $12.7 million contract with the Cavaliers. He was moved to the starting shooting guard position at the beginning of the season, due to the acquisition of Mo Williams.

He became a starter for the Cavaliers, who won a league-best and franchise-record 66 games during the regular season and went 39-2 at home. In addition to his role as the starting shooting guard, he also served as the backup point guard, manning the position when Mo Williams was not in the game. He emerged as a talented backcourt defensive player, guarding a variety of players ranging from the 6'3" Ben Gordon to the 6'10" Hedo Turkoglu. Offensively, he proved to be a capable outside shooter, with a field-goal percentage of 46% (and 40% on three-pointers), and maintained his reputation as an athletic and hard-nosed driver with the ball. West, Williams, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Anderson Varejão came together to form a supporting cast for franchise player LeBron James.

On March 2, 2009, against the Miami Heat, West set a career high with 8 steals.

In the playoffs, West's averages shot up to nearly 14 points per game, despite struggling with his 3-point shot much like his backcourt-mate Williams, whose shooting struggles in the playoffs were well documented. Further, the Cavs' lack of scoring punch on the bench forced West to take on extremely high minute loads. He averaged 42 minutes per game throughout the postseason, and in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic (which the Cavs lost in 6 games due in part to, again, outside shooting struggles from Williams and West) he played over 45 minutes per game, more than any other player in the series. In addition to this, he drew the defensive assignment of Hedo Turkoglu, who had a 7-inch height advantage, to allow James to play the "rover". West was able to stop Turkoglu's facilitation of the Magic offense in spurts, but the height advantage was too much, as Turkoglu helped to dominate the Cavalier defense throughout the series. West set a new career playoff high in points, with 22 in a losing effort in Game 6 against the Magic when the Cavs were eliminated.

2009–2010

2010-2011

After LeBron James left the Cavaliers to sign with the Miami Heat, the Cavaliers traded West, along with Sebastian Telfair, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins, and a future draft pick. Minnesota waived West shortly after acquiring him. On September 1, 2010, the Boston Celtics signed West to a one-year contract. West was suspended for the first ten games of the 2010-11 season following a guilty plea to weapons charges in Maryland.

Legal problems

On September 17, 2009 West was pulled over for a traffic violation while riding a 3-wheeled motorcycle. During this stop it was found that West had a 9mm Beretta pistol, .357 Magnum and a Remington 870 in a guitar case. He was arrested and had a court appearance on November 20. His trial was scheduled to be heard on February 18, 2010, but was postponed until July 21, 2010. West pleaded guilty to the traffic and weapons charges and was sentenced to electronic monitoring, unsupervised probation, and 40 hours of community service as well as psychological counseling.

Personal life

West is of African American and Piscataway Indian descent.

Career transactions

June 24, 2004: Drafted 24th overall by Boston Celtics in 2004 NBA Draft.

June 28, 2007: Traded by Boston along with Wally Szczerbiak and draft rights of 5th pick Jeff Green to the Seattle SuperSonics for Ray Allen and draft rights of 35th pick Glen Davis. February 21, 2008: Traded by Seattle to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of three-team deal (Cleveland also acquired Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and a future second-round draft pick from Chicago Bulls and Wally Szczerbiak from Seattle; Chicago acquired Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown from Cleveland; Seattle acquired Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin from Chicago). July 26, 2010: Traded by Cleveland to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Sebastian Telfair, in exchange for Ramon Sessions, Ryan Hollins, and a second round draft pick in the 2013 NBA draft. August 3, 2010: Waived by Minnesota. September 1, 2010: Signed by Boston Celtics.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Boston | 39 || 7 || 13.0 || .426 || .358 || .704 || 1.7 || 1.4 || .5 || .2 || 4.5 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Boston | 71 || 71 || 34.1 || .487 || .385 || .851 || 4.1 || 4.6 || 1.2 || .6 || 11.8 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Boston | 69 || 47 || 32.2 || .427 || .365 || .853 || 3.0 || 4.4 || 1.1 || .5 || 12.2 |- | align="right" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Seattle | 35 || 5 || 20.8 || .388 || .339 || .667 || 2.7 || 3.2 || .9 || .3 || 6.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Cleveland | 26 || 26 || 31.0 || .440 || .367 || .788 || 3.7 || 4.5 || 1.1 || .7 || 10.3 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Cleveland | 64 || 64 || 33.6 || .457 || .399 || .833 || 3.2 || 3.5 || 1.5|| .2 || 11.7 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Cleveland | 60 || 3 || 25.0 || .445 || .325 || .810 || 2.8 || 3.3 || 0.9|| .5 || 8.8 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 364 || 223 || 28.4 || .446 || .373 || .818 || 3.1 || 3.7 || 1.1 || .4 || 10.0

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Boston | 7 || 3 || 16.4 || .524 || .455 || .500 || 1.3 || .6 || 1.0 || .1 || 4.1 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Cleveland | 13 || 13 || 34.8 || .400 || .429 || .854 || 3.3 || 4.2 || 1.1 || .5 || 10.8 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Cleveland | 14 || 14 || 42.2 || .465 || .333 || .833 || 3.5 || 4.1 || 1.4 || .5 || 13.8 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Cleveland | 11 || 0 || 24.5 || .418 || .158 || .938 || 1.9 || 2.6 || .8 ||.9 || 6.7 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 45 || 30 || 31.7 || .439 || .352 || .845 || 2.7 || 3.2 || 1.1 || .4 || 9.7

References

External links

ESPN.com Player Page

Boston Celtics Player Profile

Delonte West Yahoo! Player Profile

Category:1983 births Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Category:Boston Celtics draft picks Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players Category:Living people Category:Point guards Category:Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball players Category:Saint Joseph's University alumni Category:Seattle SuperSonics players Category:Shooting guards