By John McMullen
Philadelphia, PA - It takes all of about 10 seconds online to find out that Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is set to make over $16 million dollars this season.
The former All-Star's salary swells to nearly $18 million in 2010-11 and eventually reaches the $22 million mark by 2013-14.
The point?
Arenas is well off and everybody knows it. That's why the NBA has a problem with firearms.
The Association is full of men that grew up in poverty, where everything from burglary to murder was commonplace. Arenas may not be Tupac Shakur but he was raised by a single father after his drug addicted mother left him. Now, like a lot of other sports stars, Arenas finds himself at the top of the food chain
and a target for every miscreant on the streets.
To be fair, there is some empirical evidence to support that position. Former All-Star star forward Antoine Walker was robbed at gunpoint in his Chicago home during July of 2007. Seven years earlier Walker and another NBA player,Nazr Mohammed, were robbed on a Chicago street.
The most tragic incident of all took place in football when Washington Redskins All-Pro safety Sean Taylor was murdered during a robbery of his Miami-area home on November 26, 2007. Taylor was shot in the upper leg by an armed intruder and the wound severed his femoral artery. He died a day later.
New Jersey Nets star guard Devin Harris recently told the New York Daily News that between 60 and 75 percent of the NBA's players own guns.
"I mean, look at the situation," Harris, who doesn't own a gun, told the newspaper. "A lot of guys have been robbed. A couple of guys, God rest their souls, have passed away. I guess they feel like they need some sort of protection, I don't know. I can't speak for everybody. I'd say between 60 and 75 percent (of players own guns)."
Absent of a change in federal law there isn't much NBA commissioner David Stern can do as long as his players who do own guns do it in a legal fashion.
Stern did address the issue back in October of 2006 after Stephen Jackson, then with the Indiana Pacers, shot his gun in the air outside an Indianapolis strip club. The commish described it as an "alarming subject" and saying "that although you'll read players saying how they feel safer with guns, in fact those guns actually make them less safe."
I'll leave that description as political fodder for the National Rifle Association and the dozens of liberal lobbyists who oppose that organization.
As for Arenas, right or wrong, he has to be made an example of after violating NBA rules by bringing guns to the locker room, a peccadillo that surfaced when he and teammate Javaris Crittenton reportedly drew on each other over an argument stemming from a card game.
Call it a stupid penalty.
The NBA is probably the least of Arenas' problem now. A grand jury had been convened to decide whether the Wizards' mercurial star violated any state or federal law. Arenas and his lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Ken Wainstein, have already developed a game plan for that by playing dumb, claiming the incident wasn't an angry confrontation over gambling debts but some sort of bad joke.
"Gilbert Arenas' poor judgment will have a devastating effect on his professional career and expose him to a possible jail term,," prominent criminal defense attorney Joseph DiBenedetto told The Sports Network.
After meeting with prosecutors, Wainstein issued a statement on behalf of Arenas, saying that he moved four unloaded handguns out of his Virginia home and into his Verizon Center locker to keep them away from his "young kids." Wainstein also said Arenas misinterpreted D.C.'s stringent gun laws and thought it was OK to have unloaded weapons in the locker. There was no explanation of why a man that makes $16 million per year couldn't afford a gun safe, however.
"Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong," Arenas' statement said. "I am very sorry for the effect that my serious lapse in judgment has had on my team, my teammates, the National Basketball Association and its fans."
DiBenedetto, who represented Peter Gotti in a highly publicized RICO case alleging a conspiracy to murder mafia turncoat Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, feels the outcome will rest on the details, something that
could explain Wainstein's joke/dumb defense.
"The criminal investigation surrounding the events alleged to have occurred in the Wizards’ locker room could be severe depending on whether the guns were licensed and whether or not a weapon was brandished during the dispute," DiBenedetto said.
Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, was even clearer:
"If Gilbert Arenas brought firearms into the District of Columbia and stored them at the Verizon Center sports arena in violation of the law, he should be taken from the basketball court to a courtroom," Helmke said.
"If the facts that have been reported in the media are accurate, Mr. Arenas violated the most fundamental rule of responsible gun owners: treat every gun as if it were loaded. Guns are not toys, and should not be treated as a joke.
"Too many cities with National Basketball Association franchises - cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Orlando, Chicago and Washington D.C. - also have profound gun violence problems. In a city where children die in drive-by shootings, an NBA player who is reckless with firearms is far from a role model. America’s athletic community can and should use its clout and prestige to push for desperately needed positive reforms to address our nation’s horrific gun violence problem."
So where do we stand?
What's indisputable is that Arenas violated the NBA's rules. At Stern's request, the firearms language was bolstered during collective bargaining in 2005 and it specifically mentions players are subject to discipline if they bring guns to the arena, a practice facility or any offsite promotional appearance.
The noose is already tightening on Arenas. TMZ.com is reporting Arenas didn't have a license to possess the guns he stored in his locker in D.C. and he could be charged with carrying a pistol without a license, along with assault charges if the incident with Crittenton was no joke.
Right now Arenas should be trying to avoid becoming the NBA's answer to Plaxico Burress and thinking about a plea bargain to avoid jail time.
Either way, Stern has a a handful of issues on his plate that range from pure public relations to the safety of his customers.
Just this season, Dionte Christmas, who was cut by the Sixers, was pulled over in Marressee Speights' car and police found a gun belonging to Philadelphia's second-year forward. Meanwhile, Cavs guard Delonte West was pulled over on the Beltway for an illegal lane change on his three-wheeled motorcycle in September 2009 and was found carrying two loaded pistols and a loaded shotgun in a guitar case.
There have been similar cases involving Chris Wilcox, Alan Henderson, Shawne Williams. Sebastian Telfair, Lonnie Baxter and Scottie Pippen over the years.
It's clear the commissioner can't convince his players not to carry firearms but he must take a stand. Suspending Arenas for the rest of the season could go a long way in proving Stern wants to at least keep all these firearms away from his public.
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