NBA Suspends Gilbert Arenas Indefinitely

Well said, Khalid.

I didn’t read every post, so
this might have been said.
Delonte wasn’t on league property
or at a league event. If he is
convicted of a crime, he will be
suspended. Telfair was sent away
from the Celtics and pretty much
cut. I’m not sure if Jax was
convicted of anything. If not
then that’s why he didn’t get
suspended. Arenas admitted to
having the guns in his locker.
Violation of the Collective
Bargaining Agreement and cause
to void his contract. If those
guns weren’t properly registered
then there may be jail time too.
The suspension is legit, and if
it’s not, the union will go to
bat for Gil. This is not a race
issue. This is a moron issue.

I betcha the “ongoing conduct” is referring to his dumbass twittering after.

i think D Train summed up the decision pretty well.

for the record: I agree with a suspension until this mess is sorted out. Bringing a gun to work is never a good idea. I do not agree with a life-time ban or even a year suspension. Spree choked the sh1t out of his coach and got one year. Ron-Ron attacked fans in the stands and got a year. What Gil did was stupid, for sure, but not worthy of more than what those two chaps got. It would be very easy for Stern to say that going forward any guns on NBA property will result in a long-term suspension.

I do not believe a life time band can be justified. I am not very acquited with the american criminal justice system but I have taken note with past events that nba players are somewhat “protected” For instance what ron did or oneal at the palice, they got fined and suspended for it right? In britain if a normal citizen assaults someone they can get prison time for it instantly depedning on provacation, circumstances and so on.

Damn, Darth Stern just turned Arenas into the mother of all cautionary tales. Granted a suspension was going to happen and was called for. Guns at the workplace (loaded or not) is not acceptable as most here concede, and i for one was expecting him to get at least a 25 game suspension. But that statement by the Nba Emperor has very nasty hints in it at the end. “Not fit to take an Nba court”? REALLY? “Ultimately result in a substantial suspension PERHAPS WORSE, pending an investigation”?? To put it in words i regularly read here, that’s some bullshit, right there. So a bipolar, by some accounts depressive guy toting multiple loaded guns around on his Bike(Tri-Bike) is “fit” to take an Nba court? I agree with AllenP in some of his arguments regarding the heavyhandedness of this. Arenas should know the Nba is monitoring Tweets of their players (they even made an official statement regarding that) so his reactions to the allegations facing him were just adding fuel to the fire of his demise. Feel sorry for losing the talent that he is and the loss of his income(u know the contract’s next) but you brought a lot of this on yourself, Gilbert0.

Oh Darth Stern, such heavy handedness so shortly before you have to negotiate with the players association. I for one agree with the suspension, he had that coming, what irks me is the phrasing on that statement. So Delonte, by some accounts a depressive, bipolar troubled person who toted loaded guns around on his tri-bike is “fit” to be on an Nba court? That’s some bullshiat right there. And the statment had to threaten worse punishment to come? Why don’t they just write “we are gonna squash this guy with the might of Mjolnir and cancel his contract while we’re at it”? Agree with some of AllenP’s points on this, very STERN reaction (imagine what would have been if the investigations were not ongoing, wow). Gilbert0′s insistence on treating this like a goofy prank didn’t help matters. Dude, the Nba is monitoring all player tweets, they even stated that early in the season!! why do you think 99% only write fluff on Twitter or don’t even use cursewords etc?!

I think Stern would have waited until the League and/or DC Cop investigation was over to make any decision, but the pic with Gil smiling and pointing his ‘guns’ probably gave Stern a heart attack.

If it turns out Arenas did nothing more than bring his guns to work, I don’t see how anything more than a 25 game suspension is in order.

I think I understand where Stern is coming from He’s trying to protect the League ‘image’ while alot of franchises are losing money. But unless it comes out that Gil was walking around waving pistols in people’s faces and threatening them, I can’t see how a long suspension is going to help anyone.
(Besides the Wiz management, who gave Gil a ridiculous contract)

by the way i do think Arenas did something more stupid like wave a pistol around while talking sh*t. Isn’t indefinitely until further notice? Just asking what does indefinitely means? maybe he gets 20-40 or rest of the year.

GILBERT DESERVED THIS. If the facts are what they look like, Gilbert is in a lot of trouble with the law BUT will probably get out of it. Since Gilbert ran his mouth to every reporter who came within 50 feet of him, since he got on his twitter and posted hilarious yet ignorant things, and since he has not been honest with the public the entire time (changing his story after revealing too much false information) he is suspened without pay. It had nothiing to do with the gun(s) as much as it had to do with the fallout from it. Had Gilbert shut his mouth, not said anything more than something like ‘im talking to authorities and you can see the police report for the real story when its all over’, and just overall kept a low profile he would still be playing. But since he is Gilbert Arenas and loves the spotlight, he decided to show the world how ‘funny’ he was. Honestly, i am pretty sure it was the finger guns that sealed the deal. Stern was on the fence about suspending Gilbert until AFTER last night. Seeing Gilbert taking the whol situation as a joke is what screwed Gilbert over. Well, joke is on you Gilbert. If any one of us had a job, or was at school and got in trouble i dont think we would talk so freely as Gilbert did. We would try and conduct ourselves in a way that would not further damage our repuation or the repuation of the place we were at. When Gilbert decided to keep on running his mouth, he looked like an a$$hole and made NBA look like it was ok with his behavior because they were letting him play. Stern decided enough was enough. STOP MAKING THIS A RACIAL ISSUE, IT IS NOT ONE. I THINK EVERYONE HERE GRILLED JESSE JACKSON ON THAT YESTERDAY. (cap lock raaaaaaaaaage)

he had GUNS, guns.
en su trabajo

I think the Wizards organization should be penalized as well for letting the guns get in the facility in the first place. Does this mean players should be required to walk through a metal detector? Possibly.

Sometimes, i just miss BETCATS. The one and only.

I’m very biased because I am a huge Gilbert fan but I don’t believe this suspension was neeeded. What I mean is the “indefinitely” part of it. Maybe it just means 20 games, 40, the rest of the year, or all the way until all-star break next season. I’m not digging it at all. play wit it.

Khalid wrote: ‘This apologist nonsense currently being spewed on this site really bothers me. All of you know about me and the sort of things i write about. And i’m, saying straight up and down Arenas violated. Its like any other job. You do not bring weapons to work. Especially unregistered ones. I don’t give a crap if it was loaded or not. And then to flash them to another co-worker in the context of a bet? I mean c’mon man, this is not a game.’
___
Agree with Khalid 100% on this.
___
@Allenp: Disagree 100% with your stance.
___
This IS NOT A FREAKING RACE ISSUE. Its a stupidity issue.
___
tavoris wrote: ‘Allenp-I feel ur pain-wholeheartedly. However, “indefinite” doesn’t mean “lifetime”.’… well said.

gil was wrong, no doubt. he deserves a hefty fine and suspension, but stern doing this now, after he repeatedly said he would wait until the investigation is complete, is crazy. gil should have been more low key after the incident. but all he did was speak the truth. i figured gil would get a 20-25 game suspension. all the false reports and endless bs from the media had to contribute to sterns indefinite suspension. i agree will allenp. the media has made this a racial issue. the hypocrisy of the nba and stern is almost amazing if i didnt expect it. 400 YEARS.

To anyone who says the suspension is unwarranted, or unfair, read the NBA owners and NBA Players Union Collective Bargaining Agreement. I’ve copy and pasted a couple relevant pieces:
“Section 9. Firearms.
(a) Whenever a player is physically present at a facility or venue owned, operated, or being used by a Team, the NBA, or any League-related entity, and whenever a player is traveling on any NBA-related business, whether on behalf of the player’s Team, the NBA, or any League-related entity, such player shall not possess a firearm of any kind. For purposes of the foregoing, “a facility or venue” includes, but is not limited to: an arena; a practice facility; a Team or League office or facility; an All-Star or NBA Playoff venue; and the site of a promotional or charitable appearance.”
-And, the punishment for breaking this rule…drum roll please….-
“the act or conduct by a player may result in both a termination of the player’s Uniform Player Contract by his Team and the suspension of the player by the NBA.”
So, to sum it up, Gil brought guns to an NBA facility, this violates the CBA, and the rules allow the league to suspend Gil, and the Wiz to void his contract. It’s well within the rules that the players and the owners agreed on. Done and done.

@Bryan Crawford
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2331954

Those are some pretty loud crickets.

@MikeC: Rules are one thing, but not enforcing them in a consistent and uniform manner is another. These same rules were in place when Bassy had his gun on a team charter which BTW qualifies as “a facility or venue owned operated, or being used by a Team”. So by your rationale and quoting from the NBA rulebook… why was Telfair seemingly exempt from “both a termination of the player’s Uniform Player Contract by his Team and the suspension of the player by the NBA”? Bassy’s gun incident came in Feb. ’06. The current CBA was agreed upon in Jun. ’05. Therefore, Telfair was subject to the same rule and punishment as Gil. But it didn’t happen. So don’t just go around copying and pasting rules trying to make a point when a precedent has already been set in where the rules weren’t strictly enforced. Oh yeah did I mention that Bassy’s gun was LOADED? On a freakin plane no less?

My reply seems to be stuck in moderation since I put a link in it proving my point. Telfair was released by the Celtics. Since he was coming to the end of his contract, nobody made a big deal out of it. The rule book also states that it is up to the discretion of the league and the team as to the penalty. I’m on the fence with this issue. I like Gil as a player, I think that what he did was unbelievably dumb and he deserves to be punished. There aren’t many past incidents like this to draw on for a precedent. Players have been caught with guns before, but every player before this at least gave an apology whether it was real or lubed with crocodile tears. Gil made a joke out of it and the league dropped the hammer. Those are the rules. Live by them, or get a job like the rest of the world. Also, no way in the world the Players Union lets this slide without a fight. They’ll cite the Bassy incident, the Jax incident, and the Spree and Ron-Ron incidents the keep Gil from having his contract voided and the league will probably end up suspending him for 50 games or a full season without pay then let him come back just to put the negative publicity to bed.

@MikeC: Once again… your cut/paste game needs A LOT of work. Did you actually READ this article or just cut/paste once again? How does this support your argument? If anything, it makes you look like a supreme moron for even using this piece to try and prove a point that you DON’T have. C’mon son… don’t insult my intelligence.

Bryan I believe the CBA states there, as MikeC highlighted the EXTENT to which a player may be dealt with. A team may move to discipline a player with a lesser action but the FULL extent to which both player and administration has agreed upon is quite clear. Some people eat crickets for breakfast.