The Washington Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas took a major hit this week, both to his reputation and to his wallet, as he was indefinitely suspended by NBA Commissioner David Stern after bringing guns into the Verizon Center and keeping them in
The Washington Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas took a major hit this week, both to his reputation and to his wallet, as he was indefinitely suspended by NBA Commissioner David Stern after bringing guns into the Verizon Center and keeping them in his team’s locker room.
He then seemed less than remorseful via Twitter and made some pretty stupid bang-bang gestures to his teammates during pre-game introductions on Tuesday.
That didn’t sit well with Stern, whose decision will now cost Arenas more than $147,000 for every game he misses. While that may bum him out, it probably bums us out more to see exactly how much he makes for 48 minutes of hoops. But that’s another discussion.
The punishments all seem justifiable and appropriate in Arenas’ case. Just think what might happen if you put three guns — loaded or unloaded (Arenas says they were never loaded and no ammunition was in the building) — on a co-worker’s chair with a note that says “Choose one.”
I think you’d be looking for a new source of income pretty soon, so there’s not much reason the same shouldn’t be the case for Arenas.
What has begun to irritate me is the backlash which may affect other players, both on the Wizards and around the league.
Four Washington players were fined $10,000 apiece for “making light” of the bang-bang gestures Arenas made Tuesday in Philadelphia. A photo of the team indicates that every member of the Wizards, at least all those whose faces were visible, were laughing at the time.
I’m not sure how those four were singled out. Were they laughing harder than the others? Were they leaning foward/backward at a greater angle than the others? What could possibly have been the criteria?
We’ve already seen Tim Duncan ejected from a game by Joey Crawford for laughing on the bench. Continuing to interpret and punish emotion is a slippery slope and can lead to players feeling even more frustrated.
These fines were action for action’s sake. Is anyone safer now that these players are $10,000 poorer? Is there any chance they only now understand the severity of the situation, even after seeing their teammate temporarily exiled from the league and having to speak to a grand jury about the investigation?
In the moment, the team tried to rally around their teammate who was making an admittedly bad joke. They laughed. They smiled. They sinned.
Oh, no they didn’t.
Another byproduct of this incident is teams’ crackdown on card games players participate in on virtually every flight and in every hotel they stay. The Arenas mess began because of an unpaid debt in a high-stakes poker game, reportedly between he, Javaris Crittenton and JaVale McGee on a team flight.
With so much travel time, these games are the norm for NBA players throughout the season. They have huge salaries, competitive personalities and time to kill. The dots basically connect themselves.
In response to that, the New Jersey Nets have now prohibited gambling on their team flights.
I might feel closer to this subject matter than some, because I did make my living as a poker player for about 18 months, but if I was a member of the Nets, I’d be upset that some situation between teammates from a different organization, hundreds of miles away has now effected the way I’m allowed to behave.
What do the Nets have to do with anything that happened in the Wizards locker room?
There’s a reason that people in airports continue to complain about having to remove their shoes at security because of one idiot.
The reason is that they’re pretty much right.
It reminds me of a time that my dad, sister and I were on a banana boat ride with some strangers. Everything was going great and everyone was having a good time until one woman at the back lost her grip and fell off.
The speed boat operator turned to the rest of us and yelled: “You need to hold on tight!”
Without missing a beat, my dad yelled back: “Don’t tell us, we’re still on the boat.”
When something bad happens, attention, response and, if necessary, punishment should be focused on those responsible, not just randomly thrown around.
Knee-jerk reactions for appearance’s sake rarely accomplish anything, other than punishing the wrong people.
Seriously, haven’t the Nets suffered enough this season?
