Tag: Gilbert Arenas suspended

Arenas doesn’t feel the Wizards have supported him

Get this — Gilbert Arenas feels disrespected by the Washington Wizards. Per the Washington Post

A person close to Arenas said Thursday that Arenas believes President Ernie Grunfeld and the Wizards management failed to support him following his locker room confrontation on Dec. 21 with teammate Javaris Crittenton.

Arenas, the person close to the player said, has told NBA investigators that his flippant behavior following the incident, including the pantomiming of pistols before a game that led to an indefinite suspension from Stern, was because he felt the Wizards organization had turned its back on him.

“If your own franchise, the people you considered family, weren’t there for you when you needed them most, would you want to play for them and be around them anymore?” said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Arenas “was wrong for bringing guns into the locker room, and it’s going to mean pleading guilty to a felony. It’s serious business. But the way this came out and how Ernie and the organization handled the facts makes you wonder if he will ever play for them again.”

Let me get this straight: This clown brings guns into his place of business, threatens (jokingly or not) a teammate over a gambling debt, and expects the team to “support” him? When they don’t live up to his expectations, he mocks the situation during pregame festivities and them blames the organization’s lack of support for his complete lack of tact (and common sense)?

A quote later in the story sums it up best…

“Until Gilbert realizes none of this would have happened if he hadn’t brought guns in the locker room and accepts responsibility for his actions, he won’t be welcomed back anywhere,” said an NBA official on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

The Wizards need to do everything they can to void Arenas’s contract. They’ve already paid him $40 million of a deal worth $121 million, so it’s not like he’s going to walk away with nothing.

Arenas charged with felony, reaches plea deal

Per FoxSports.com…

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was charged with felony gun possession on Thursday in connection with a Dec. 21 locker room confrontation with a teammate.

Prosecutors charged Arenas with one count of carrying a pistol without a license, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. But Arenas reached a plea deal that could result in much less or even no jail time, according to the Washington Post.

Over on TrueHoop, J.A. Adande speculates (prior to the plea deal being announced) that the Wizards will want to terminate Arenas’s contract.

As far as criminal behavior, there have been countless misdemeanors that have received only minor suspensions from the league, including a seven-game suspension for Stephen Jackson for firing a gun outside an Indianapolis strip club in 2006.

A felony charge leaves no gray area. Nor is there much room for feelings. In the Wizards organization there is genuine concern for Gilbert Arenas the person, still a likable guy despite his horrendous decision, now facing the ultra-serious prospect of up to five years in prison. But if the case were to conclude with a guilty plea or felony conviction and a prison sentence it’s unimaginable that they would want to keep his salary cap-clogging contract on their books. There’s also a sense Stern will use this as a strong example of the penalties for violating his ban of guns on team property. One Wizards source has feared Stern’s punishment more than the court’s all along.

The Wizards are in a tough spot. If they try to void his contract and fail, then they’re stuck with a player who is due to make more than $80 million over the next four years and knows that the team tried to get rid of him. If they do manage to void his contract, they’ll lose him with no compensation. At this point, Arenas is more than a hindrance than a help, and the Wizards would be far better off rebuilding from scratch (or building around Caron Butler).


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TMZ: Wizards tell Arenas they can void his contract

TMZ is reporting (via “sources”) that the Washington Wizards have already informed Gilbert Arenas that they believe he is in violation of the morality clause that is in every NBA contract.

We’re told a team official was trading text messages with Arenas after the locker room incident. Sources tell TMZ … in one of the messages, the official told Arenas the team felt Agent Zero violated the clause in his contract prohibiting him from engaging in conduct detrimental to the team or the NBA … and they could have the contract voided as a result.

Most NBA contracts contain morality clauses — but it’s difficult to void an NBA contract on those grounds. The Indiana Pacers didn’t void Ron Artest’s contract after “The Malice at the Palace” in 2004.

What’s the point of having a morality clause in a contract if it can’t be exercised? If a player is brandishing a firearm in your locker room and threatening his co-workers, isn’t that immoral?

This will be an interesting story to watch. It is definitely in the best interests of the franchise to void his contract, which was bloated the day he signed it.

NBA suspends Agent Zero “indefinitely”

The NBA has suspended Gilbert Arenas indefinitely, per ESPN.

NBA commissioner David Stern has indefinitely suspended Gilbert Arenas, saying the Washington Wizards guard is “not currently fit to take the court” for a game.

A day after the former All-Star was photographed before a game in Philadelphia pointing his index fingers, as if they were guns, at his teammates, Stern warned in a statement on Wednesday that Arenas’ conduct will “ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse.”

Because Arenas violated NBA rules by bringing guns into Washington’s locker room, Stern decided to punish Arenas now. He said the suspension begins immediately.

“Although it is clear that the actions of Mr. Arenas will ultimately result in a substantial suspension, and perhaps worse, his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game,” Stern said in the statement. “Accordingly, I am suspending Mr. Arenas indefinitely, without pay, effective immediately pending the completion of the investigation by the NBA.”

It was only a matter of time before he was suspended. Stern was going to wait until the investigation was complete, but with Arenas running around making a mockery of his situation, the NBA had to act.


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