Chip Patterson, recent graduate of University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, writes for TheHoopDoctors.com and serves as Basketball Editor for BusterSports.com.
First came the speculation, then the federal investigation and apology. We all had our laughs, now David Stern has his say.
After several days of speculation, the NBA Commissioner has indefinitely suspended Gilbert Arenas, saying the Washington Wizards guard is “not currently fit to take the court” for a game.
“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. Accordingly, I am suspending Mr. Arenas indefinitely, without pay, effective immediately pending the completion of the investigation by the NBA.”
From the looks of it, Gil screwed up pretty bad in the eyes of the Commish by making such a joke of this ordeal. After meeting with federal prosecutors at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department, Arenas sounded apologetic in his statement. The apology for humor in bad taste all of the sudden did not seem so sincere after this little gag before the Wizards game against the Sixers on Tuesday night.
The Washington Wizards, to no one’s surprise, are taking the side of the Boss Man on this one. The real gut-wrencher here is the reference to Abe Pollin, the beloved former owner of the Wizards who passed away November 24, 2009.
“We fully endorse the decision of the NBA to indefinitely suspend Gilbert Arenas. Strictly legal issues aside, Gilbert’s recent behavior and statements, including his actions and statements last night in Philadelphia, are unacceptable. Some of our other players appeared to find Gilbert’s behavior in Philadelphia amusing. This is also unacceptable. Under Abe Pollin’s leadership, our organization never tolerated such behavior, and we have no intention of ever doing so.”
While I imagine this will not result in any kind of suspension for any of the other teammates, it certainly puts an already struggling Wizards squad (11-21, last in the Southeast) in a difficult situation playing without their leading scorer (22.6 ppg) and leading assist man (7.2 apg). This will mean an increased responsibility on the short shoulders of 10-year veteran Earl Boykins.
The 5 foot 5 inch point guard, playing on his 9th team, has been averaging just over 8 points and 3 assists in only 19 minutes so far this season. Last season, without Arenas, the Wizards found their scoring in the form of Caron Butler. Butler has struggled this season in compared to last, and if Washington is to survive this setback – he will have to step up as a scoring compliment to Jamison.
The Wizards face the Cavaliers tonight in Cleveland, tip at 7:00 ET.
