Gilbert Arenas blows up the Wizards

So this is where things stand with Gilbert Arenas right now:

Multiple sources close to the criminal case have said Arenas will plead guilty in D.C. Superior Court on Friday to a single felony count of carrying a pistol without a license in exchange for avoiding jail time. Such a plea would not be enough to allow the Wizards to void the $80 million remaining on the six-year, $111 million contract Arenas signed with the team in July 2008, other sources said. Yet neither side may be interested in reviving the relationship if and when the NBA reinstates the three-time all-star guard, whom Commissioner David Stern suspended indefinitely Jan. 6.

We don't know if Gil will get jail time or if he'll avoid the slammer in return for a hefty fine, an extended probation and many, many hours of community service. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge in California when he was playing for the Golden State Warriors and the judge in this case will definitely take that into account regardless of whatever agreements the prosecutors and Gilbert's attorneys have worked out. In other words, Gil may do jail time even if he and his lawyers have reached a plea deal that doesn't include jail time.

Whatever the NBA Players Association is telling the media publicly or anonymously, it's hard to believe the Wizards wouldn't at least try to void Arenas' contract soon, or at least use the threat of it as a bargaining chip in buyout negotiations. Obviously, Gil and the player's union will fight that tooth and nail -- Gil to save his money and the union to prevent other NBA owners from thinking they can get out of unwelcome contracts if a player pleads guilty to or is convicted of a felony gun charge.

True to form, Gilbert thinks this is all someone else's fault -- namely, GM Ernie Grunfeld and Wizards management -- and bitterly resents the team for not covering the scandal up and supporting him publicly against all these accurate charges and accusations. In fact, Gil claims privately that his flippant twittering and "finger pistols" stunt -- mocking the importance of the gun charges against him -- was all in reaction to the fact that the team took the problem seriously and didn't help him to make it all go away.

"If your own franchise, the people you considered family, weren't there for you when you needed them most, would you want to play for them and be around them anymore?" said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Arenas "was wrong for bringing guns into the locker room, and it's going to mean pleading guilty to a felony. It's serious business. But the way this came out and how Ernie and the organization handled the facts makes you wonder if he will ever play for them again."

Read it all at

http://www.dcprosportsreport.com/articles/washington-wizards/gilbert-arenas-blows-up-the-wizards.html