Gilbert Arenas fined for latest antic
Washington Wizard Gilbert Arenas embarrassed himself, his team, and the NBA last year when he was handed a 50-game suspension for bringing guns into the locker room. Arenas desperately
needed a fresh and incident-free start to the year to rehabilitate his image for the sake of his career.
But the 28-year-old oddball has already been fined an undisclosed amount by the league for faking an injury to give his starting spot to a teammate. Before the Wizards’ game against the
Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday 12 October, Arenas faked a sore knee so that Nick Young could start.
"I screwed up again, so I just want to say sorry," he said. "I wasn't really thinking that this was going to be another media outburst. It's like everything I do now, someone, t*t for
tat, tries to blow it out of proportion."
Wizards coach Flip Saunders expressed disappointment and shock at the immature behaviour of his star player.
"I was probably the most surprised," Saunders said. "I got a text late last night. When I talked to Gil at the shootaround, he indicated that his knee was a little bit sore and stiff and
he didn't think he was going to play, and I said, 'Fine,' and I moved on."
"I said to him that I'm most disappointed personally," he continued. "Because I believe in him. There's been a trust factor. I told him, 'You're going to have to be honest with me.' It's
just like dealing with your kids. Your kids make mistakes and you deal with them. It doesn't mean you love them any less."
When asked about the situation, Young said he didn’t think anything of it at the time.
"I didn't know nothing about it," he said. "I heard this morning – I saw it on TV. That's just Gil doing Gil. I don't even know what was going on. I just went out there and played my game."
In addition to the fake injury, Arenas has made numerous headlines with his antics just a couple of weeks into the pre-season, including instating a “no-smile policy” for himself and saying
he would “move on” from the franchise once he teaches John Wall, number-one pick in last year’s draft, the ropes.
The Wizards would likely have trouble moving Arenas because of his large contract, which pays him $80 million over the next four years. And given his recent behaviour, finding a new home
for him becomes even more unlikely.
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