RealGM

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... n_Incident

I have no sympathy for this guy. He's whining that the Wizards leaked the incident. Well guess what bud? If you hadn't brought the guns into the lockeroom in the first place there'd be no incident. Man up. You're still getting paid multiple times what you are worth.

Does he just deflect blame to get attention? You broke the law, shut up. Even if they did leak it what's the purpose of this?

Of course they leaked it - bringing down his trade value even more than it already was was all part of the plan!

We're done here with Gilbert, he's Orlando's problem now.

Dude just needs to let it go.

I don't see much motivation for the Wizards brass to leak that story -- especially the story that got out. All it would serve to do is make Arenas look bad and further diminish his trade value. More importantly, the way the story was initially reported made the front office look bad because they handled PR aspects so poorly. The whole episode was personally and professionally embarrassing to Ernie, Tommy and Milt.

So, this just goes into the file of "Stuff Arenas Says Which May or May Not Be True, But He's Saying It Because It Popped Into His Mind and He Says Everything That Pops Into His Mind Whether He Means It or Not or Even Whether It Makes No Sense Whatsoever".

Yeah, had to write small to get all that on the label.

I think the Wizards did mishandle that situation, and so did Arenas, and I wouldn't be surprised if some loose-lipped employee spilled, but not as part of a plot. I 'd be just as unsurprised if a loose-lipped Arenas was somehow the source.

Aren't theories of conspiracy against one's self and narcissism 1st cousins? In space, no one can hear you whine. Something to talk about during down time, at least.

This is all just part of his scheme to get back into the public's eye. He's an attention-whore and will do anything to be discussed again, positively or negatively. Irrelevance is driving him crazy.

Nivek wrote:I don't see much motivation for the Wizards brass to leak that story -- especially the story that got out. All it would serve to do is make Arenas look bad and further diminish his trade value. More importantly, the way the story was initially reported made the front office look bad because they handled PR aspects so poorly. The whole episode was personally and professionally embarrassing to Ernie, Tommy and Milt.

So, this just goes into the file of "Stuff Arenas Says Which May or May Not Be True, But He's Saying It Because It Popped Into His Mind and He Says Everything That Pops Into His Mind Whether He Means It or Not or Even Whether It Makes No Sense Whatsoever".

Yeah, had to write small to get all that on the label.

The discussion back then was that Ernie was going to try and void his contract, that's why he leaked. The "incident" was leaked and certainly the players would not have leaked something like this.

Whatever, Gil is desperately trying to be relevant again, off the court more-so than on...it's the only thing he's got left since he's a shell of his former self.

^
I don't think any of the players would have intentionally leaked it, but there's a difference between snitching and talking carelessly. With reporters constantly looking for a comment, players do the latter all the time, which is why there are so many great quotes, especially from Arenas.

Except, the Wizards never tried to void the contract. They researched it, but decided not to pursue it. I know that they were hoping he'd transmogrify back into something like the All-NBA offensive force he was before his knee got wrecked.

The incident certainly was leaked, but I don't see any reason to think it didn't come from players, or from posse. And, by "players," I don't mean it had to be a Wizards player talking to Peter Vecsey. More likely, a Wizards player (or players) told a friend on another team, and so on until it got to someone who talks with Vecsey. It's hard to keep secrets in a league where many of the players know each other and there's full-time access for reporters. I'd agree that Arenas didn't leak the story to reporters. Crittenton probably didn't either. But, it wouldn't astonish me if we found out that Arenas told Richard Jefferson (for example), Jefferson told a friend who played for the Knicks, and when that friend talked to Vecsey said something like, "You are not gonna believe this..."

I wonder where Crittendon is these days anyway.

What gets me just as much as him saying the Wiz ratted him out is his comment that they did it because his money-making days were over. Had he already given up on himself as a player back then?

I wish Gilbert the best. I wish he;d keep his mouth shut with regard to a franchise that he's no longer a part of. As a fan, I'm thankful for the good he did here, but I have moved on. I'm interested in our rebuild and our young players -- not in opening up old wounds.

fishercob wrote:I wish Gilbert the best. I wish he;d keep his mouth shut with regard to a franchise that he's no longer a part of. As a fan, I'm thankful for the good he did here, but I have moved on. I'm interested in our rebuild and our young players -- not in opening up old wounds.

Well said.

Also, I'm not going to criticize Arenas for being a loud-mouth who says ridiculous things for ridiculous reasons because, well, that's Gilbert. Love him or hate him, the man has no filter.

It seems like the only people in the NBA that still care about Gilbert are Wizards fan. Is he really trying to isolate the only people that still care/like him?

These days all I have left for Gilbert Arenas is a smh.

Any employee knows to be on his/her best behavior during any change in management. Especially when it's the top boss that's changing.

Nivek wrote:I don't see much motivation for the Wizards brass to leak that story -- especially the story that got out. All it would serve to do is make Arenas look bad and further diminish his trade value. More importantly, the way the story was initially reported made the front office look bad because they handled PR aspects so poorly. The whole episode was personally and professionally embarrassing to Ernie, Tommy and Milt.

So, this just goes into the file of "Stuff Arenas Says Which May or May Not Be True, But He's Saying It Because It Popped Into His Mind and He Says Everything That Pops Into His Mind Whether He Means It or Not or Even Whether It Makes No Sense Whatsoever".

Yeah, had to write small to get all that on the label.

I believe Ernie and Abe's surviving ownership wanted to void the contract.

When this initially happened I said that beyond leaking the story and in effect condemning Gil in the court of public opinion with the public letter before any trial; I also think they alerted DC Metro about the guns in the first place and they also asked Gilbert to bring the guns back from Northern Virginia--in effect ensuring a conviction.

Gilbert was unwise to cooperate with team officials, even more unwise to make comments at all once the illegality of guns in the District was mentioned, and most of all Arenas should have lawyered up from day one.

I think the Wizards sold him out big time and that Gilbert's recent tweet, even if it reflects some attention-seeking from a guy who did commit the crime and do something dumb, is on point.

I think they wanted to void the guy's contract and behaved in a very vindictive and disloyal way. They gave the moneymaker the (dumb) contract in the first place. Years ago, before they ever gave him the contract I said I thought it was a foolish idea to award an injury-plagued player, one who plays poor defense, and a guy who OPTED OUT OF HIS DEAL after coming back still-injured and making the Wizards lose in the playoffs quicker than they would have without him, a multi-year deal. I said then I thought he did so because he (Gil) knew his body might be breaking down and that it was very risky for Washington to tie up cap space with Arenas for years to come. I said LET HIM AND JAMISON WALK.

Regardless, Gil is not to blame IMO. He is IMO 100% right about the organization. His money making days were over and IMO they tried to stab him in the back for causing embarrassment to the organization but MAINLY BECAUSE HE WAS NO LONGER GOOD. They regretted the move and their actions were MONEY-MOTIVATED. I'm not a huge Gil-backer, but I don't think he's wrong on this.

This was pre-Ted, but he backed Ernie and I believe felt the same way as the previous owners about Gil. If he hadn't, Ernie wouldn't have been retained as GM, IMO.

The ironic thing is Gil's conviction/suspension saved them from having hit and they did save money. Trading for Lewis was the best thing for all parties. Getting Wall let folks move on.

I have to admit that I think EG did a fine job last season (but I didn't like the last draft at all, though). Regardless, the Gil incident was very, very, very ugly.

Logically, that doesn't make much sense, CCJ, because they - in fact - made no effort to try to void his contract, and the incident decimated his trade value - which was a huge blow to the franchise. If your theory is right, the Wiz brutally screwed themselves - intentionally.