Armed & Dangerous: Arenas Gun Play Only Glimpse of Bigger Problem
by Jon Pessah
“The Gilbert Arenas situation is interesting. We’ve heard stories for literally years about his travails with handguns. He traveled with them fairly regularly on team planes, often in plain sight. It’s surprising that something like this hasn’t happened earlier.”
That’s what an NBA veteran told me two days ago while discussing how NBA Commissioner David Stern would handle his league’s latest and most serious problem. Today, Stern could wait no longer. Not after Arenas was photographed before Tuesday night’s game in Philadelphia pointing his index fingers at teammates as if they were guns, while some of the Wizards stood in a circle around him, laughed, and staggered backwards.
“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,” said Stern, who suspended Arenas indefinitely and without pay.
It’s clearly the first of many steps Stern will take in dealing with Arenas, who also faces potential fines and jail time pending an investigation by federal and local authorities after admittedly bringing guns to the Wizards’ locker room. Not that Stern is unaware of the large number of players who own guns in his league. No one who has played or worked in and around the NBA can be surprised that a gun incident has erupted—though it is hard to reconcile Gilbert’s stupidity in dealing with this problem.
That’s not to say that everyone who owns a gun in the NBA is as careless and callous as Arenas. Nor to imply that the NBA is a thug league, as Forbes Magazine rushed to declare earlier this week. But the simple fact is this: guns are and have long been part of the league’s culture.
Read Full Essay @ True/Slant
Jon Pessah helped start ESPN the Magazine, ran the NBA desk, then the enterprise and investigative team for four years, producing stories for the magazine and a handful that also ran on Outside the Lines.
by Jon Pessah
“The Gilbert Arenas situation is interesting. We’ve heard stories for literally years about his travails with handguns. He traveled with them fairly regularly on team planes, often in plain sight. It’s surprising that something like this hasn’t happened earlier.”
That’s what an NBA veteran told me two days ago while discussing how NBA Commissioner David Stern would handle his league’s latest and most serious problem. Today, Stern could wait no longer. Not after Arenas was photographed before Tuesday night’s game in Philadelphia pointing his index fingers at teammates as if they were guns, while some of the Wizards stood in a circle around him, laughed, and staggered backwards.
“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,” said Stern, who suspended Arenas indefinitely and without pay.
It’s clearly the first of many steps Stern will take in dealing with Arenas, who also faces potential fines and jail time pending an investigation by federal and local authorities after admittedly bringing guns to the Wizards’ locker room. Not that Stern is unaware of the large number of players who own guns in his league. No one who has played or worked in and around the NBA can be surprised that a gun incident has erupted—though it is hard to reconcile Gilbert’s stupidity in dealing with this problem.
That’s not to say that everyone who owns a gun in the NBA is as careless and callous as Arenas. Nor to imply that the NBA is a thug league, as Forbes Magazine rushed to declare earlier this week. But the simple fact is this: guns are and have long been part of the league’s culture.
Read Full Essay @ True/Slant
Jon Pessah helped start ESPN the Magazine, ran the NBA desk, then the enterprise and investigative team for four years, producing stories for the magazine and a handful that also ran on Outside the Lines.
