So Gilbert Arenas has been suspended for the entire season (Javaris Crittenton is, too, but no one seems to care). I’m not surprised by the result of this after he brought guns to the locker room. David Stern wasn’t amused by this and was going to make an example out of him.
I make it sound like it’s bad by saying he was going to make an example out of him. But guns are never really something to joke about. Yeah, we’ve had incidents before (Sebastian Telfair, Stephen Jackson, and Delonte West come to mind) but they kept quiet (StackJack did after being warned once) about the whole incident while Arenas kept joking about it for days, even using it as a pregame ritual. I just hope that Arenas learned his lesson and that he’s gotta take some stuff seriously at times.
Will they void his contract? I think the Wizards will try to do it but I don’t think it’ll happen. I think what will happen is that Arenas will most likely get traded. It’s safe to say that we’ve seen the last of Arenas in D.C. as they try to distance themselves from Agent Zero. And let’s face it; Arenas is still a very good basketball player so someone out there is going to want him. Orlando may try to make a run at him since Otis Smith (general manager of the Magic) is friends with Gilbert.
I asked part-time contributors Holland Wong and Marc Dizon what they thought of this whole situation.
HOLLAND
Indeed I feel Gilbert Arenas was punished accordingly. David Stern and the Washington Wizards organization has gone to great lengths over the past decade to clean up their images. This started with doing away with the “Washington Bullets” and changing the team name to the “Wizards” back in 1997. Gilbert Arenas has stained the organization quite a bit with his asinine joke, or so he says that’s what it was. Antawn Jamison, the acting team captain for the Washington Wizards, had to address the crowd before a home game to make it a point to create a fun, enjoyable, and friendly basketball organization. This is an end of an era here in Washington for Gilbert Arenas. I believe his contract should and would be voided. I’m not sure if they have an “asshat” clause when they signed him to that $111 million dollar six-year deal. The Wizards should be itching to get his salary off the books just in time for this off season’s upcoming free agency class. The “Zero” in Agent “Zero” would probably pertain to his paycheck in the meantime. I don’t know where he’ll end up playing, but I’m willing to bet he won’t be in a Wizards uniform again.
MARC
I think this is another one of those cases where the boss wants to make an example out of someone. That being said, I can’t say that I disagree with Stern’s decision. Do I believe Gilbert Arenas had malicious intent in doing what he did? No, I don’t. But at the same time, his reckless attitude that has gotten him in trouble in the past has gotten him into a situation that, I believe, could be career-ending.
It remains to be seen whether or not Arenas will learn from this and matures. For his sake, I hope he does. He’s really the only loser in this whole situation. I was gonna say the fans lose as well but, let’s face it, we’ve been Agent Zero-less for damn near 3 years so it’s not something that we’re going to have trouble acclimating to. The 2 real winners in all this? The Wizards organization being able to save money from the possibility of release from Arenas’ $111 million contract/cement shoes during an, already, lost season. The other winner? Halo 3 players like me who, once again, have more of a chance of playing with Agent Zero on random pick-up matches. See you on Xbox Live, Gilbert.
Now that Gilbert’s fate has been decided, it remains to be seen whether the Wizards will blow this team up. They’ve got a few good assets but I think we’ve pretty much seen the Wizards hit their peak with Arenas on the team. One thing’s for sure: I don’t think we’ll see Washington use their throwback Bullets jerseys again.
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