The Washington Wizards’ president, Ernie Grunfield stated on Friday that the team plans to stick by Gilbert Arenas despite his pending legal situation. Arenas will miss the remainder of the NBA season after being suspended by NBA commissioner David Stern. Arenas pleaded guilty last month to a felony gun charge and is scheduled to be sentenced March 26.
The fact that the Wizards are saying publicly that they plan to stick by Arenas says a lot about how they feel about him in the organization despite what has been portrayed in the media. Recently, the Wizards made noise during the NBA trade deadline by trading away stars Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Jamison is now with the Cleveland Cavaliers while Butler is with the Dallas Mavericks.
"He's part of this organization and he's under contract and if he wants to play, this is the place where he's going to play," Grunfeld said.
"Gilbert's a basketball player, that's what he likes to do, that's his life and obviously this is a tough situation for him. It's a tough situation for everybody and I think we all feel for him because he loves to play the game so much and this is something that he really misses. Nobody wants to see anybody go through something like this, but during the summertime we're going to sit and I know he's going to work very hard to be the best player he can possibly be."
With two members of the Big Three now gone, the Wizards are looking to rebuild their team and the rebuilding process will include Arenas. In July 2008, Arenas signed a six-year, $111 million contract extension.
In the day and age when athletes are kicked to the curb almost instantly after making a mistake off the field or court, the fact that the Wizards have not abandoned Arenas says a lot about the kind of character that he truly has.
Arenas now has a chance to overcome his mistakes and make amends to the fans and people in the Wizards organization once he gets his opportunity.
The fact that the Wizards are saying publicly that they plan to stick by Arenas says a lot about how they feel about him in the organization despite what has been portrayed in the media. Recently, the Wizards made noise during the NBA trade deadline by trading away stars Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Jamison is now with the Cleveland Cavaliers while Butler is with the Dallas Mavericks.
"He's part of this organization and he's under contract and if he wants to play, this is the place where he's going to play," Grunfeld said.
"Gilbert's a basketball player, that's what he likes to do, that's his life and obviously this is a tough situation for him. It's a tough situation for everybody and I think we all feel for him because he loves to play the game so much and this is something that he really misses. Nobody wants to see anybody go through something like this, but during the summertime we're going to sit and I know he's going to work very hard to be the best player he can possibly be."
With two members of the Big Three now gone, the Wizards are looking to rebuild their team and the rebuilding process will include Arenas. In July 2008, Arenas signed a six-year, $111 million contract extension.
In the day and age when athletes are kicked to the curb almost instantly after making a mistake off the field or court, the fact that the Wizards have not abandoned Arenas says a lot about the kind of character that he truly has.
Arenas now has a chance to overcome his mistakes and make amends to the fans and people in the Wizards organization once he gets his opportunity.
