Crittenton’s $25K Gambling Debt Will Cost Arenas Nearly $80 Million
Gilbert Arenas tried to use guns to scare teammate Javaris Crittenton to pay a supposed $25,000 gambling debt. Instead, the incident could cost him the remainder of his insane $111 million contract that he signed a few years ago. NBA contracts are intertwined with what’s called a “morality clause” which basically allows franchises to opt out of guaranteed contracts if that player has a felony on their criminal record. That clause could save a Washington franchise which is getting paltry returns on the inflated salary they pay their roster.
Washington has the eighth most expensive roster in the league, costing them $79.2 million for the 2009-10 NBA season. In terms of basketball betting, this team is getting murdered. At just 12-21 SU, they’re 11-20 ATS despite having Arenas playing full time. The man known as Agent Zero has been riddled with injuries that have left him on the shelf. He has played in just 46 games in the past three seasons, including the present one.
Ironically, $79.2 million is also the approximate value of the remainder of Arenas’s contract. He was paid at the end of the 2006-07 season for pouring in 28.4 points per game and it’s undeniable that he certainly has a boat load of talent.
Well he got a truck load of cash for that talent, and now he’s showing that he has load of crap in his skull where a brain should be. Arenas has managed to survive the first few months of the NBA season, but is nowhere near as affective as we thought he’d be.
He is tenth overall in scoring in the league with 22.7 points per game. Guys like Chris Bosh, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant and Monte Ellis are ranked ahead of him.
For those of you that were like me trying to overcome a New Year’s hangover with even more binge drinking, the Arenas situation pretty much unfolds like this: Crittenton (who makes about $$1.7 million per year) owed Arenas a bunch of money from a gambling debt. Impatiently, Arenas tried to send a message to his teammate by leaving guns in his locker as a symbol of urgency. Well Crittenton had guns of his own too and used them to send a message right back to Arenas. And yes, all this unfolded at the Verizon Center. Arenas claims that he was storing the guns in his locker because he didn’t want them in his house where his kids are.
The gambling debt is peanuts compared to what either player is making, but egos decided to take their place right next to complete and utter buffoonery in what is becoming the worst incident in the NBA since Steven Jackson and Ron Artest started kicking the crap out of fans.
David Stern hasn’t crawled out from his lair to levy a decision yet, but he has to drop the hammer. Guys like Kobe and Tiger make terrible decisions off the field, but bringing guns to work and using them to impose your will on coworkers is inexcusable. Arenas may be a top-10 talent in the league, but he’s now proving to be the dumbest guy who plays basketball for a living (move over Stephon Marbury).
The case is already headed to a grand jury, and the commissioner of the NBA is awaiting their decision. Either way this pans out, this is a situation that even a guy named Agent Zero won’t be able to escape. In my opinion, both guys should be suspended without pay for the remainder the season and the Wizards should be granted the right to escape the contract of Arenas.
The Wizards will be better off without Arenas, and unless you’re a cop or in the military, a workplace is safer without guns around.
