So my boy Agent Zero decided to make a friendly bet with two fans that if he had the chance to hit a game winner against Portland, he would make it. Unfortunately his last second shot came up short, and the Wiz Kids lost another one to Portland. The suits in the NBA office heard about this from Gilbert's blog, and immediately reprimaded him, and erased any mention of the wager from the blog. (Article from SI.com linked below.)
I realize that betting must be avoided in the NBA, but where do Stern and co. draw the line about keeping things fun and entertaining versus becoming the fun Nazis. We're talking about a player who has singlehandedly generated more buzz this year about the NBA than any other single player has since King James first came on the scene. Basketball players across the country are now yelling hibachi after their shots. Wizards jerseys are selling like hotcakes. We're also talking about ten dollars. Ten dollars is such a small fraction of most NBA players' salaries i'd have to find a calculator to figure it out. He makes a nominal bet with a couple fans, and now he's getting heat for it? The NBA needs to use more common sense in matters like this and realize just whats going on here. Arenas is keeping things fun, keeping the fans involved and still carrying a top team in the East on his back. The NBA needs to count its blessings that it has stars like Arenas around to keep some personalities in the game of pro basketball.
Article Link : http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/03/25/bc.bkn.wizards.arenasbe.ap/index.html
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