Arenas' wounds self-inflicted,Gilbert Arenas indefinitely suspended by NBA
The reason Gilbert Arenas had to leave now, the reason he has gone from frivolous to dangerous, is that he doesn't seem to grasp the concept of consequences.
When you meld that trait with a known penchant for harboring guns, you have a threat. That's what Gilbert has to be considered now. At the very least, he's a threat to this image-conscious league's perception in the public eye. At the worst … well, Jayson Williams has been on my mind this week, and not because he was arrested on a DUI charge Tuesday. Long before Arenas and his quirky Agent Zero persona came along, Williams was the reigning prankster in the NBA. Williams told jokes at the expense of Yinka Dare and Benoit Benjamin and was one of the best quotes in the NBA. Then in 2002, after he had retired, he was accused of killing a chauffeur while playing around with a shotgun in his house (manslaughter charges resulted in a mistrial and an acquittal).
Maybe Arenas is the type who would pull the trigger only under the most extreme circumstances, if he or his family members were in danger. But I don't give him the benefit of the doubt on any judgment calls now, not when he could be so reckless and put the remaining $80 million of his contract in jeopardy.
There's a history of money squabbles prompting player-to-player hostility in the NBA, with perpetrators from Charles Oakley to Kobe Bryant. And there have even been tales of players pulling guns on teammates before, including Vernon Maxwell getting his gat after an argument with Houston Rockets teammate Carl Herrera. But Arenas crossed a line when he tried to end his card-game argument with Javaris Crittenton with a display of guns in the locker room, a blatant violation of David Stern's ban on firearms on NBA property.
