Delonte West -- who publicly battled mental health, addiction and legal issues -- is opening up about his basketball comeback for the first time ... with the NBA hooper saying he feels he has more bounce than ever in new workout footage we obtained.
We broke the news in February ... the 38-year-old, former 8-year NBA vet was training with the goal of making the BIG 3, participating in a try-out in Washington D.C. earlier this month (DW was invited to an upcoming workout).
Now, West is speaking out .