If saner, Gilbert Arenas could be Karl Malone.
Malone, the former Jazz forward, Hall of Famer and ardent member of the National Rifle Association, has his photo posted on the NRA Web site alongside other famous gun enthusiasts/spokesmen such as actor Tom Selleck and former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca.
But the NRA needs Arenas like the NBA needs Arenas.
The Wizards guard has now created an image problem that stretches from the Olympic Tower in New York City to Capitol Hill, where gun lobbyists must be cringing.
Arenas’ jokester defense of his gun-wielding locker room spat with teammate Javaris Crittenton so horrified Malone that he wrote for SI.com an opinion piece that included the following passages:
“Once again, gun owners get a bad rap. We’re good people; we’re not back in the old west. I got my first gun when I was 8-years-old - an old .410 single shot. I’ve been around them all the time ever since, and I’m a member of the NRA. I love guns and I respect guns. I have them in a secure place.
“When I was in Utah I took all the necessary training with the gun and had my concealed-weapons permit. I’ll be the first to tell you I don’t go anywhere in my vehicle without my weapon, but at no point has it ever occurred to me to take it inside anywhere, let alone an arena.
“If I seem a little fired up, I am. It’s a privilege to own a firearm and I take offense when people don’t handle their business the right way.”
Taking gun ownership seriously is obviously a step that Arenas initially took by moving his collection from his home, out of reach of his children, and into the Wizards locker room, no matter how misguided the latter choice might have been.
Malone is right. Gun-owners in general - with their more high-profiled bretheren in professional sports taking the biggest hit - suffer the rap. But they are also very serious about what they consider a need for personal security.
“We’re walking targets,” Celtics [team stats] captain Paul Pierce [stats], who nearly died in a vicious 2000 stabbing incident, told the Herald in 2006 of his personal need to own guns. “You have 15 guys on a team, and they can’t all be using security guards. I know that nothing good comes from a gun. I’ve been to the range a few times, but I’ve never used it except for that.
“I’ve been followed in my car before - a few times - coming home from the game. I’ve rerouted how I go, and they still followed me. Sometimes when I get home it’s 3 or 4 in the morning. I’m scared of going in the house. I’m out there in the woods, and it’s pitch black.”
Former Celtic Delonte West, speaking for the same story, said, “Um, no, I don’t own a gun. But I’ve thought about it. Nothing’s happened up here, but there were a few incidents down in Maryland. People broke into my brother’s house and took a few things. They stole my truck from down there. And this all happened last summer. . . .
“People know who you are, and who you know. You’re an NBA player, and that can bring things out in people. I agree that we can all do a better job across the league of choosing the places where we go. It’s better to be safe. But as far as handguns go, you do have to protect yourself.”
Unfortunately, West now resides on the Arenas side of the ledger, and the Cavaliers guard has been indicted on gun charges stemming from a bizarre and frightening traffic incident last summer, in which he was caught in possession of two handguns and a shotgun - all loaded.
The NBA’s older generation - Malone included - simply can’t understand what is perceived as a new recklessness.
“When I’ve addressed it with a couple of guys, they’ve said, ‘I understand, but you don’t understand,’ ” said Celtics [team stats] director of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who had to confront the problem when another former Celtic, Sebastian Telfair [stats], faced a gun charge in the summer of 2007. “We didn’t have a gun culture back when I played, but I don’t think we have a gun culture in this league now. (Telfair’s) gun was in his wife’s name, and found under the front seat of his wife’s car.
“I’ve never seen a gun in a locker room or in a practice, and I’ve been in this league for 30 years. This to me wasn’t even a gun situation. (Arenas) brought them out of his locker as a joke, and then he made stupid jokes about it and got in trouble. It’s just unfortunate that everyone gets labeled because of the actions of a couple of people.”
Arenas, presumably, is learning a lesson - the sort that only comes from an indefinite suspension without pay.
Figuring Net gains
The Nets have done the relatively easy part.
They have unloaded contracts, refrained from adding cumbersome weight to their payroll, have seven expiring contracts on their 15-man roster, while holding options on another two, including one (Sean Williams) they will gladly allow to dissolve.
They expect to be roughly $20 million under the salary cap for next season. Thus, they hope to be a player when the 2010 free agent market opens, with “hope” being the operative word.
As of Thursday, they were a three-win team, and at the head of the lottery field in the race for a chance to draft Kentucky’s John Wall.
The Celtics, who not so long ago dreamed of choosing between Kevin Durant and Greg Oden, know the feeling.
But this summer’s free agent market will be a much bigger deal, and even with his moves to clear cap space, team president Rod Thorn realizes that the Nets aren’t a prime destination.
Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, probably the most overlooked impending free agent, when asked last week about the Nets, told an AOL reporter that a suitor’s competitiveness will figure prominently in his shopping.
No amount of cap space is going to solve that problem.
“That will be a critical part of it,” Thorn said. “In some cases not. But some guys will make that kind of choice.
“That’s a big reason why we have to play better. Last year, Oklahoma City started out at 3-29 and ended up winning 20 of their last 50 games. So we haven’t given up on trying to win games.
“People who are on the open market will see us as a team with some (problems), but the reality is that we have to play better the rest of the way.”
The Celtics, and their transition from a 24-win team in the 2006-07 season to an NBA champion the following season, are instructive in this case. Perhaps New Jersey’s high first-round pick will be best served as part of a trade package for a high-quality veteran, who can then lure another high-quality free agent.
“When the Celtics [team stats] got good, they went from, ‘We have to get Oden or Durant to trading for (Ray) Allen and (Kevin) Garnett’ ,” Thorn said. “Only once in the last 10 years did the team with the worst record actually get the top pick, and that was Cleveland (with Lebron James). If you depend on drafting your great player, your chances are one in four.
“But we’re going to be in the same position the Celtics were in several years ago.”
MVP list is short
Kobe Bryant and James won their respective conferences’ Player of the Month awards for December, and though the Bryant-for-MVP lobby already appears to be building steam, consider the resumes submitted by each player.
Over four games from Dec. 13-30, James had peak scoring performances of 44 points (Oklahoma City), 36 (Philadelphia), 34 (Sacramento), and a season-high 48 (Atlanta).
Bryant, playing much of his run with a broken finger, exploded for 39 (Milwaukee), 29 (New Jersey), 35 (Cleveland) and 44 (Golden State).
James also averaged 7.6 assists per game in December. Bryant averaged five.
Barring injury, no one else need apply this time.
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