Don’t worry, this isn’t about betting on NBA basketball, if that’s what you’re worried about. What this concerns is the underground culture of sports gambling on the side between players. They don’t bet on games like Donaghy, but they do play loads of card and dice based games that lead to debts and angst between players.

The Arenas incident is just one of many cases where a player owes another a large sum of money, but it’s simply the first case where guns came in to play on such a serious level.

I feel absolutely no sympathy for Arenas. He plays in Washington, DC. He’s black (or African American or whatever you want to call it these days) and guns remain the biggest threats to young men of his race. His former owner who died this season was so averse to guns that he changed the name of the team from Bullets to Wizards.

It’s a serious issue in America, let alone the rest of the world, and Arenas didn’t have the head to stop making light of the situation. Arenas showed no remorse whatsoever for his actions and I for one am glad that Stern dropped the gavel as firmly as he did.

If they go over the top and ban Arenas for five years without pay I’ll be even happier. In fact, there’s nothing they could do in terms of punishment where I wouldn’t flinch. The guy’s made millions, hasn’t produced in the league at all, is a malcontent and can’t even read enough on the internet to respect the political and social views about a gun culture that has divided a country for over a decade. Screw him.

While guns are a big play in America, gambling has also been slammed on the hot seat for years (as you very much know). Already, the New Jersey Nets have banned gambling between players in any recreational form. Ironically it was Devin Harris who earlier this season estimated that nearly three-quarters of players in the NBA possessed firearms. Could many other teams follow?


Gambling and sports go hand-in-hand these days like rice and chicken, fries and cheeseburgers, salads and “get the hell out of my house”. Two of the NBA’s most likeable and appreciated icons were entrenched in gambling. Michael Jordan’s gambling addiction is well known, while Charles Barkley’s is even further documented. Catch LeBron or Carmelo on a talk show and when asked about dice or cards, they always smile because they play the game as much as you or I play our X-Box’s. They joke about debts and they joke about “this player owing money” or whatever.

Unfortunately, all the fun and games go out the window now that Arenas’ has fouled out of the league for now.

This is all coming as the NBA enters another golden era. For too long after Michael Jordan retired was the league filled with me-first ballers, money hungry rookies, players fighting each other, players fighting fans, The Jail Blazers and too much bad press. One major incident has sent a league reeling back ten steps as it tries to take so many positive steps forward.

Remember when players were furious at the new dress code when they were mandated to wear suits? Remember how angry they were? Well imagine how mad they’re going to be when they can’t even gamble amongst each other on chartered flights, on road trips or in the locker room. Of course, it’s a very small price to pay for one man’s sins at the end of the day.
These are NBA millionaires who play a sport for a living. Before you feel sorry for them, remember that you and I have to take are freaking shoes off every time we even look at an airport because one guy wore a shoe-bomb on a plane. One guy! And nothing bad happened! Now we may not even get to wear our underpants on a flight with that last “terrorist”. See how sports reflect life? The NBA and airplane passengers are both getting caught with their pants down. Thanks, Gilbert. You’re a jackass.

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