Agent No-No: Gilbert Arenas' Actions Hurt Recuperating NBA Image

When a sports fan thinks of the most out-of-control, least manageable, and arguably the most dangerous sports league in North America, the National Basketball Association comes to mind.

Whether it revolved around Dennis Rodman, the Portland “Jail Blazers,” or an astonishing brawl between athletes and fans at the Palace, the NBA has, for better or worse, been viewed as a league of delinquency and misbehavior.

While the NBA has been plagued with unfortunate incidents the past couple decades, there is no denying the league’s attempt to clean its image and make it more marketable to outside developers and fans who pay to help maintain credibility.

And after all the work that has been done, from stricter guidelines like proper dress attire before and after games, one incident could derail any effort and make outsiders say “I told you so.”

Such is the case with Gilbert Arenas.

The Washington Wizards’ $111 million-dollar man brought a gun into the locker room, and then proceeded to threaten a teammate with it. There are just so many things wrong with this scenario.

First off, Arenas is making over a $100 million over a six-year time frame. Whether he deserved such a large contract in the first place is debatable, especially when one considers his injury history and lack of success in the postseason. Players like LeBron or Kobe warrant such huge contracts, but Arenas should not be mentioned in the same breath as those guys.

Then you have the issue of actually bringing a firearm into a building and, jokingly or not, threatening another person with it—let alone your own teammate. Didn’t it once cross Arenas’ mind that this was, in essence, a bad idea? Apparently not.

And for a player as widely known as Arenas, this was and continues to be a PR nightmare for Washington and the NBA as a whole. His suspension for the remainder of the season hurts his team (as does that of Javaris Crittenton), not to mention makes upper management really take a step back and begin having second thoughts on that monster contract.

Maybe changing the franchise’s name from the “Bullets” to the “Wizards” was a bit premature.

This may end up being the sword in Arenas’ NBA coffin, but the NBA will get over it over time. The league achieved success despite drug use, brawls, and the Tim Donaghey saga. Sure, it will not be the easiest distraction to overcome, but time does heal all wounds—even in professional sports.

Although in many cases, athletes aren’t so lucky.