What’s Eating Gilbert Arenas?

by James Robles

When Americans go to work on Monday morning they are expected to dress in a manner befitting their title, arrive on time, and perform their job functions while adhering to company norms. A deviation from this set standard usually results in an immediate termination. However, most Americans do not sign a six year, $111 million dollar job contract by the age of 27, subsequently launching themselves into superstardom. Because of this, Gilbert Arenas is not most Americans, but, he is still an American.

Leagues such as the NBA have forgotten the inalienable rights granted all Americans, regardless of their marketability and status. The limits now being imposed upon player’s actions have recently infringed upon rights as inherent as free speech; the recent $7,500 fine given to Milwaukee Bucks player Brandon Jennings, for issuing a single Twitter message, reeks of bad parenting. The NBA has become the frizzy haired, disillusioned mother, wavering in last-ditch efforts to control her rambunctious children.

The difference of course––NBA players are not children, they are men––men who like all others, perform their jobs to support themselves and their families. If it is within the realm of the NBA to enforce dress codes, gambling regulations, Twitter messaging and drug testing, so be it. The emasculation of its players only dilutes the problem and satiates the public need for action, yet does little to solve the root issue.

Gilbert Arenas acted unbefitting his leading role, leaving a threatened, younger player with little choice then to posture in a manner that retained his dignity. As a multi-million dollar athlete, rapidly approaching 30 years of age, Arenas has mistakenly faltered in the public eye, further tarnishing an NBA image needing anything but.

The ability for an association to scrap the constitutional right “to bear arms” in an effort to control its members, defiles every national anthem sung before every tip off. How long will it be before ankle bracelets, locker room surveillance and metal detectors become common practice? The NBA is not a league of wild thugs––It is an arena filled with many young, impressionable men, fearless of trite authority, in need of wisdom only leaders such as Gilbert Arenas can instill.