Gil

Just before Christmas, as I was snaking my way along Sunset between Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica, I thought of Gilbert Arenas. Off to my right in the canyon below was Pali High (home of the Dolphins!) where we had conducted a photo shoot with Gil shortly after his last season with Golden State. Arenas had done some pretty crazy stuff his first two years in the league. Before he was actually given some decent burn he used to practice dunks jumping off the trampoline with the Golden State mascot (a feat he repeated at the 2007 All-Star Game weekend). He bought an Escalade for around 50 grand and then used another 50 Gs to trick it out even though he was the 31st pick in the 2001 Draft and making non-guranteed rookie money. During halftime of a game against San Antonio, Arenas was so upset with his play that he walked into the shower in full uniform and turned on the water. He supposedly played the second half in his wet uni.

The last exploit was the theme of our photo shoot. Gil stood in uniform on a Pali High handball court while the photographer's assistant threw bucket after bucket of lukewarm water on him. It was late afternoon and getting cool in the canyon, but Gil didn't care. He was a photographer's dream, putting up with being drenched for a good hour and a half. His girlfriend, Laura Govan was there as well.

Arenas' off-the-wall personality and his back story about growing up with his dad in LA and sleeping in the car when they first arrived from Florida made for a pretty good piece. And Gil was a good quote. When I interviewed him I went through the first round of the 2001 Draft naming all the guys who had been drafted before him. With the tape recorder running right in front of him he went off on several of the picks. He said a monkey could shoot better than Gerald Wallace and justifiably called Jeryl Sasser "terrible". He was especially miffed with the Celtics who had three first round picks and took Joe Johnson, Kendrick Brown and Joe Forte (ouch). "If I could pick one team to score 100 points against it would be Boston," he said.

The day the story went to print I got a phone call from Arenas while covering a tennis tourney in Indianapolis. Gil was pissed. He claimed that all the things he had said about the other players in his draft were off the record. Of course, he never said anything like during the interview and his girlfriend was there the entire time. He claimed that the next time he faced each player he dissed he was going to have to throw down with them. I tried to reason with him but he just wanted to vent and went off on what I thought was a very fair and positive story. The thing that really killed me was that he had just signed a 60 million dollar deal with the Wiz. He finally had all this respect. But as many people have said about Arenas, he's never trusted his success. As Mark Heisler suggested in his story on Arenas this past Sunday, Gil's always feared that everyone is going to discover that he's a fraud and abandon him just like his drug-addicted mom did when he was a little kid.

As Arenas went on to bigger and better things with Washington, became an All-Star and a cause celebre among the media (especially bloggers), I've always kept this idea of Gil in mind. Even now,in the wake of his gun trouble, I really don't think he's a bad guy. When I relayed my story to people who know him they said that Gil challenges everyone, even friends or teammates (look at his relationship with Deshawn Stevenson). He's got to know if you're on his side or not and even those that are in his court are perpetually tested. It's a matter of trust, is it not?

Occasionally people that have everything (fame, money, respect), if they want to go higher, they need to drum up controversy or sharpen their edge. That's what makes someone like Kobe so great. Maybe that's what MJ was looking to do with his HOF acceptance speech. Arenas isn't nearly the player those two are, but he's achieved some pretty big things in his NBA career and he's nobody's fool. While he does foolish things, deep down he's thinking 'Hey, it's just me, Gil, Hibachi, Agent Zero.' I'm not saying bringing guns to an NBA lockerroom was a totally calculated move, but on some level, how could it not be? His whole career, from his free throw routine to his use of the media, is defined by his ability to provoke and bewilder.

So what happens now? In the wake of Tiger mania, the press is quick to dole out advice and/or punishment. Jemele Hill thinks Arenas and Crittenton should be suspended for the season and that the Wiz can use this episode to void Arenas' hefty contract. I think he'll get a month suspension (Steven Jackson received 7 games for his gun going off in a nightclub). I doubt the Wiz can play a morality card with this and ax Arenas. I just don't see it happening. As Washington should have learned long ago, when ride with Gil you get the good and the bad.