Last week I introduced you to the phat beats, yo, of Boston Celtics guard Delonte West, AKA Charlee Redz, as nobody ever sent him the memo about NBA players and rap careers. Proud of the release of his new album, “Lockout,” West seemed poised to take over the world of incomprehensible rap lyrics set over paint-by-numbers beats, all while wearing his favorite sleeveless shirt. Now it turns out that instant rap star money doesn’t exactly flow in so quickly, as West Tweeted that he applied for a job at Home Depot to get him through the lockout.

Either this is one hell of a viral marketing endorsement deal or we’re finally seeing just how serious this lockout is.

To the casual fan, this would seem like a joke. After all, if Earl Clark can get a gig playing in China, then West shouldn’t have any problems finding a team overseas to pay him either, right? If only it were that easy. West has now become the rashy face of NBA players who can’t leave the country because of legal problems.

West isn’t allowed to play overseas because of his 2009 arrest in Maryland for weapons. To be specific, for those who don’t recall, West had three guns in a guitar case while he was riding on a three-wheeled motorcycle late at night. Apparently, he had tracked Bucho to Prince George’s County and had to stop him from burning down Carolina’s bookstore again.

So is West, who has made $14 million over his short career, joking about applying for a job at Home Depot? Possibly. But the only people laughing are the NBA’s owners, who have been waiting for the mid- and lower-level players to start realizing that they need the paychecks more than the owners need them.