A few months ago when the Washington Wizards made the obvious move with their number one overall pick by snatching up Kentucky’s John Wall, if nothing else, that had to leave a certain impression with Gilbert Arenas. Prior to last season, Gilbert was still the face of the franchise. Alongside Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, the Wiz had a relatively young core somewhat in place. Of course, long gone are Butler and Jamison. Gilbert Arenas feels like he’s next.
In his first preseason game as a pro, John Wall turned heads with an impressive outing. Wall finished with 21 points, 9 assists and 4 steals in 38 minutes worth of work as the Wizards topped the Mavericks 97 – 94. This game also marked Gilbert Arenas’ first game back on the court after serving a 50-game suspension. Gilbert finished with 12 points in 26 minutes. By his own doing, Gilbert has faded from relevancy lately and it’s a shame, because at only 29 years old, he still has some game left. I actually think that he’s more of a 2-Guard than he is a Point, which is why I feel that he and Wall (a natural Point Guard) could coexist in the backcourt down in the Nation’s capital. Sure, they’d be undersized, but they’d be plenty explosive.
However, Gilbert doesn’t see it that way. He is acknowledging that he has been replaced and is probably best if he steps out of the way to allow Wall to do his thing. After the game, Arenas said:
“Right now the city is John’s. I’m not here to fight anybody. I’m here to just play alongside him. He’s Batman and I’m Robin. When I came in, Larry [Hughes] moved aside for me to become a star and I’m moving aside so [John Wall] can become a star. Let him fly and I’ll just fill in the gaps. When I came to Washington, that’s what Larry did for me and that’s what I’m doing for him.”
As off the wall as Arenas is, I actually find it refreshing that he acknowledges all of this. Usually when the writing is on the wall (no pun intended) for a guy, they do everything in their power to prove to anyone that will listen that it’s still their team and that they have something to prove. I’m glad that Arenas didn’t go down that road because he would’ve been fighting a losing battle. Especially since he’ll probably be there for the remaining four years on his deal.
Back in 2008, Gilbert signed a 6-year, $111M deal. With no pending trades on the table for the Wizards, Arenas will have 3 years and roughly $60M remaining after this year. Although, plenty talented still, no team in their right mind would take Gilbert and the PR nightmare that would come along for the ride. That’s why I think it was that important that he accepted this situation from day one. It’s funny because he also made comments that sounded like he had already been moved, saying “right now they have special players.” He said “they” as if he is no longer on the team.
The Wizards are trying everything to win back fans, including a midnight madness for their first practice, so a public debate over whose team it is between Arenas and Wall wouldn’t have helped that one bit. Arenas says he’ll be there for Wall until it’s time to move on. As far as I’m concerned, that’s four years away so it’s good he’s learning to deal with it.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
