20 Days, 20 Questions: Gilbert Arenas's Personality

First off I love bulletsforever.com I check it everyday to get my fix, but your poll question leaves me a little disappointed. To have a choice between Crazy & Serious I find insulting. To label Gill as insane is dismissive and shows a general lack of understanding of another human being. Like calling someone stupid because they don’t agree with you. Crazy means mentally deranged. Now if you believe he is, well there you go, but that also means you and the entire city loves(ed) a crazy man. What does that say about us?

Gill has done more good for this city than most of us and he deserves our respect even if he made a few bone-headed mistakes they still don’t outweigh what he has done for the community and others in need. If you had asked this question a few years ago before the blow up I wouldn’t have as much of an issue, but with all the Gill hating and framing him as public enemy #1 this poll question does not sit well with me.

Our society has a warped view of our athletes, maybe because we have them on our walls and they represent our city, but they are not elected officials who we have a duty to keep an eye on. These are kids with great ability, more than our own, but that’s it. They are still just kids who for the most part have had their growth stunted from being sheltered from the age someone figures out they are going to be “great.”

And what if Gil does have a mental issue, you just insulted a mentally handicapped person. How many people have been calling Young “stupid” or a “retard” because of his lack of growth within the system, and now we find out he has a learning disability. Are all those people a$$%0#@$? Well if they are I guess they always were, but this is D.C. home of the haters… just check the WAPO boards. How many people are Monday afternoon quarterbacking right now?

But lets look at Gil’s personality from another view point… Would Gil act the way he does if you and every other media head and fan didn’t go “nuts” with ever new quote. He is a journalists/bloggers dream as well as a fans (when healthy)… so give the man his props for keeping us entertained and bringing hope to this city long before Obama moved in. Remember Chicago? So lets stick by our Agent 0 even if he is #9 now and not punk him when it’s convenient by calling him CRAZY… it says more about us than him.

Peace,
Le Bullet

Boring Gil is just Monta Ellis with a three point shot and weaker defense, crazy Gil is one of the most interesting players in the league.

His individual performance is subject of debate because of the injuries he had. His oncourt performance is subject of debate as far as sharing a backcourt with Wall since both need the ball in their hands. Team chemistry is questioned in the sence that he might not want to ride Wall’s back seat. His influence on rookie Wall is questioned because of his goofy behaviour in the past (crazy, immature what ever you prefere). Finally also his contract is questioned because of the above and because it ties the hands of the franchise going into the future.

Now, no matter where you stand in the debates on the above points its undeniable that they (the debates) are there. It takes attention away from the new and fresh direction this franchise is going. Therefore i think this team would be better off without gilbert.

For the record, i dont say that because i think GA is going to be bad on or off the court, not because i think he will be a bad influence on Wall or that an ego war will terminate team chemistry, on the contrary. I say that beceause his pressence simply means the debates are going to be there. Like a cloud on a otherwise clear bleu sky for this franchise.

A fresh start could also do wonders for him, beeing free of all those debates.

Because that’s what he is. He’s 28 (?). At this point, you are what you are in life and Gilbert is a character. If he changes what he is, he won’t feel 100% comfortable (especially on the court, at least not right away- i.e Nick Young last year?). I’ll take Gilbert for Gilbert because Arenas, crazy or not, (before the injuries) is a hell of a player.

Wall seems ready for primetime, but I am starting to think that Gil hogging the lime light for a season could be great for the Great Wall’s development. I am not saying Gil would do this intentionally, but it could work that way.