by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
With each day passing, this story gets crazier and more absurd. There is, of course, absolutely no doubt that Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton deserve to be punished by the League for their actions. Firearms have no place in NBA locker rooms. And if found guilty of having committed any crimes, they should face the appropriate legal consequences.
But what about the NBA itself? Has David Stern already gone too far?
Stern and the folks at NBA HQ in New York were under enormous pressure to do something about Arenas and his apparent lack of remorse. The usual suspects in the media were going crazy, predictably calling the NBA a league of thugs, and some even going as far as to suggest that Gilbert be banned for life.
As Arenas continued with his clownish acts, Stern’s hammer came down hard on him, and even though it’s not yet totally clear just how severe the punishment will be, it’s almost guaranteed that Arenas will not set foot on an NBA floor this season, and perhaps longer.
For Crittenton, especially given the latest revelations, things may even turn out significantly worse for him.
There’s a long list of NBA players, coaches, and executives who have done things which can be seen as decidely worse than both Gilbert and Javaris’ bone-headed actions: Stephen Jackson fired his gun outside a strip joint; Sebastian Telfair brought a loaded weapon onto a team airplane; Donald Sterling’s long and shameful record speaks for itself; people have driven while intoxicated; players have spit on fans and thrown them through plate-glass windows; and would someone be kind enough to clarify exactly how Delonte West is “fit to take the court in an NBA game” again?
The list goes on and on. And here’s the thing: None of the people mentioned above faced the kind of swift and painful justice that Arenas (and inevitably, Crittenton) are about to endure.
So, once again, is the NBA doing the right thing here, particularly with Arenas?
They have every right to punish him — and this gives his employer a particularly tidy and mess free excuse to walk away from Gilbert’s massive contract — but they may have taken things to an unnecessary extreme.
In Crittenton’s case, there’s no telling just how far Stern and company will go.
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West tho should never have been allowed to even start the season.
Or maybe its just that they want lebron to win a title
If Arenas stored the weapons in the building (likely with teh knowledge of people in the Wizards’ organization) he should be suspended for violating league rules. His suspension should have a definite length of time like all other suspensions.
I disagree vehemently with Stern’s assertion that Arenas is “unfit” to play in the NBA. I disagree with his claim that the suspension will last until the NBA’s nebulous “investigation” is complete.
As for Javaris, if the reports are true about his conduct, he was far more reckless in CHAMBERING A ROUND while in a lockerroom. I would expect his suspension to reflect that.
Stern has pegged this suspension to morality, not Arena’s rule breaking. This is dangerous. Morality is a shifting morass of ideals for most people. What is widely held to be “common sense” if often just eh most popular bias. The fact that so many people do not see this is disheartening.
Stern could have reacted immediately since Arenas ADMITTED to bringing the guns. The unloaded guns he never pointed at anyone or attempted to fire. He broke the rules, suspend him.
I don’t have a problem with a suspension, I have a problem with the justification given for the suspension because that sets a ridiculous precedent. But, we shall see if my fears are unfounded.
Khalid
You just don’t like guns and you don’t think they should be at work. I don’t share those feelings. Arenas was not brandishing or flashing a weapon. He stored guns at his job. People’s refusal to see the difference in storing guns and showing them to a teammate as opposed to brandishing or threatening a teammate are refusing to consider nuance for their own personal reasons.
When you eliminate nuance, you eliminate reason.
There is a nuance between showing guns and showing with an implied threat to intimidate a colleague in order to be reimbursed money owed.
There are good reasons why guns should not be brought to a sporting arena ,players somtimes talk trash,they do when temper flare have physical confrontations and knowing that some players have their guns in the locker could take things a scary level.
These 2 clowns should punished severly as to make them an example for all to see!
I’ve been around guns quite a lot. Used to ride around with my nine-millimeter in the car before it got stolen. Keep a sawed-off shotgun by the nightstand. I’m somewhat familiar with weapons, and undertand that they shouldn’t be used in a joke.
But that doesn’t change the fact that that’s what Arenas and Javaris were doing. Javaris threatened to shoot Arenas in his knee over a gambling debt. Arenas left guns by Javaris’ locker and told him to pick one. There was no waving of guns by Arenas. Now, Javaris went further, but I’m giving him a small break because he was provoked by Arenas’ actions.
Khalid, I live in a state where it’s perfectly legal to carry a concealed hangun if you have the correct permits. So, people bring guns into confined spaces all the time. Yes, guns represent a risk, but then so do cars. Accidents may happen, but just because accidents occur doesn’t make guns bad in an of themselves.
I think that storing unloaded guns in his locker, the locker that team employees had access to on a regular basis was stupid. But, that doesnt’ mean I think Arenas deserves a lifetime ban because of what “might” have happened. That’s like banning somebody forever because they drove drunk because they “might” have killed someone. Or banning them for gambling on team flights because their debts “might” make them point shave.
You can’t hand out the ultimate punishment for what “might” have happened. Particulary since you have a situation where a player who CHOKED his coach was only suspended for a year.
So, people in the military don’t horse around with guns, ever?
And whenthey do horse around, are they dishonorably discharged after being court martialed, which would be the equivalent punishment?
Lifetime ban is the NBA death penalty. That’s ridiculous in my opinion. If Latrell Sprewell had kept choking P.J. a little bit longer he would have killed him.
And Latrell only got a year.
It ain’t about being soft, it’s about the fact that I don’t believe bringing a gun into the locker room is the worst thing in the world. I don’t even think it compares to physically assaulting a coach. (For the record, I thought P.J. had some blame in that situation, but ultimately you can’t go around choking people. Then again, an editor at the Washington Post can punch out his colleague, and have journalists across the country rush to his defense like it was no big deal, so who knows.)
I don’t think storing your guns at the Verizon Center is worth being banned from the NBA forever. That’s just crazy to me.
You all do not live in the United States. Your attitudes about guns are vastly different from the attitudes of many people in this country.
Cars kill more people in the United States than guns, every year, particulary cars operated by drunk people.
If you drive drunk, you are committing a crime that has a high likelihood of causing death or serious injury to someone else. So, if you’re an NBA player, who gets a DUI, should you receive a lifetime ban because you broke the law, the league rules and could have possible killed someone?
Of course not because that’s stupid.
Punishing people based on what might have happened is only acceptable in very limited situations. This was not one of them in my opinion.
Your car comparison is insane. Cars are not designed to be a weapon. I can’t believe you’re using that comparison. Javaris Crittendon should be banned for life. Arenas should get the remainder of the season.
There should then be a vast push by the players union to get punishments standardized for all players and not decided by how blood thirsty the media is.
My point was simple.
If you drive a car drunk there is a chance you can kill someone.
If you bring a gun anywhere there is a chance you can kill someone.
Why are people so concerned with what “might have happened” with a gun, and not so concerned with a drunk driver?
Because most people drive drunk, have driven drunk, or have friends who do it. It’s much easier to point the finger when you can say “Oh, I would never do that, that’s just beyond the pale.”
If we’re punishing Arenas based what might have happened, it makes sense.
I’m not saying driving a car is the same as carrying a gun. That is stupid.
I’m saying that driving drunk puts people in just as much danger as carrying a gun into an NBA arena. There is just as much potential for a horrible accident with a drunk driver and handgun.
So, if an NBA player drives drunk, do they not put other people in significant risk? Could not their actions possibly result in a horrible accident?
If they are putting people at the same level of risk, which is what I’m arguing, then would not a lifetime ban be justified for them as well.
Look, if you’re punishing people based on what might have happened because of their stupid actions, it’s a slippery slope. I say punish people for what they did, not based on what might have happened.
What the hell happens when someone gets drunk with a gun in his hand?
But Arenas still brought guns to his locker, and then (I’m not exactly sure what happened) decided to play with them. That needs to be dealt with, and I used to like Gilbert Arenas.
Stern will be the villain and Arenas the victim.
Hard to imagine a more thoughtless and just plain stupid individual as Arenas. To play it off like he did in Philly is stupid on a staggering level. It is aggravating to hear people on sports talk radio say that “he’s just a kid”. The man is an adult.
A very stupid adult. Fire him. He can always play in Europe.
What pretzel logic even allows a person to consider that a prank?
the extra time @ work was well invested.
and as far as the guns/cars analogy-thanks jukai&nbk,well sorted out.not exactly the point allen wanted to make i´m afraid,but still..
to me two bothersome points remain in all of this-
one being the blatant inconsistency as mentioned approx 85times already(and the IMO wrong motivation behind it)and the other being many of you guys´ obvious obsession with firearms.
what constructive contribution to society has ever become of gun-ownership of a private person?
and PLEASE dont start with it being your right..
i´ll say it again-grow up already and get some self confidence.
cause you resort to that card,scientifically there´s really no safe evidence that the sun melts snow,or butter,as we both know..
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