Last Saturday, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reported that the Los Angeles Lakers have “expressed interest” in signing Gilbert Arenas. On Sunday, ESPN’s Chris Broussard confirmed the report, saying the Lakers have “considered the idea” of adding the guard to their roster. On Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Lakers had yet to interview or work out Arenas. On Tuesday, via Kevin Ding the Orange County Register, Lakers coach Mike Brown acknowledged that team personnel had “just conversation” about the former Wizard, also confirming that there had been no workout, nor a review of Arenas’ past game video by Brown.

After Monday’s Wizards-Bulls game, I spoke with Nick Young, a good friend of Arenas, about how his former teammate was doing and about his prospects of joining the Lakers.

You said you talk to Gilbert just about every day. How is he doing? Is he just down in Orlando working out?

“Yea, he’s been working out. He said he got the — I don’t know if I’m supposed to say this — but he got that Kobe treatment on his knees…”

[I make some lame joke about the "Kobe System" commercials. -- NOTE: This past June, Kobe Bryant underwent treatment on his knee in Germany.  Orthokine Therapy, developed by German doctor Dr. Peter Wehling, also a former physician to Pope John Paul II,  involves "centrifuging the patients blood and using the serum as an anti-inflammatory drug." Tracy McGrady reportedly introduced Wehling to Bryant, who in turn recommended the therapy to Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. In addition to a clinic in Germany, Wehling is said to have a small outpost in Los Angeles.]

“Yea, yea… you could say it’s the Kobe System, but he said it feels great, his knees feel great, and he’s been working out. When I seen him last time, he looked like he was in shape. He lost a lot of weight.”

When did you last see him?

“When we went to Orlando the last time we played [the Wizards played the Magic on Orlando on January 4], so he looked like he was in good shape.”

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly interested in Arenas, have you talked to him about playing for both of you guys’ hometown team?

“Oh yea, oh yea… most definitely. That’s a big thing for him. That’d be real big for the Lakers to add him to their team because they need a guard. They’re young… without [Derek] Fisher on the court – [Darius] Morris, I think — they’re real young at the guard spot.”

[NOTE: Lakers point guard Steve Blake is currently out due to fractured cartilage in his rib cage and has recently been cleared to start running on a treadmill.]

Any other teams that he might fit in with?

“I really don’t know, I just heard really about the Lakers. For him to come back home, that part, I think that would calm him down. I think it’d be good.”

Now, I know he got officially re-engaged this summer… Has he set a wedding date? Are you invited to that?

“He did? Oh yea… I remember that… he told me. I think he’s serious this time,  I think he’s serious this time. I talked to… Laura [Govan] was in L.A. a couple times, so I think they’re serious.”

But he hasn’t set a wedding date yet?

“No date yet, no date yet, but I’m going to be up there… I’m probably going to be the best man,  you know…. Nah!!”

[Nick laughs and rolls out into the night.]

Other reads from Truth About It:

• December 15, 2010 -- Lakers Have Style, Wizards Looking For Substance – Los Angeles 103, Washington 89
• December 8, 2010 -- Chalk Up Moral Victory No. 3 In 115-108 Loss To Lakers; Should The Wizards Be Ready To Stand Behind Their Message Of Toughness?
• December 9, 2011 -- A Couple Washington Wizards Training Camp Musings

Gilbert Arenas once called himself the Black President, but the way he governed the basketball court and his world around it after injuring his knee in 2007 was far from diplomatic. The former star’s fall from grace in the nation’s capital is, however, fitting of political scandal.

Many have painted Arenas a complicated person, from fans to media to teammates to team personnel. But he’s not as dense as a mortgage-backed security. No, it’s the digestion of Arenas that was always complicated. One story one day, another the next. His antics were often a disruptive force, pardoned by organizational higher-ups and accepted in the best “boys will be boys” way possible. What former coach Eddie Jordan once dubbed as “Gilbertology” often spilled into the headlines. The NBA has had characters galore, but Arenas’ idiosyncrasies and flaky personae, at their height, were unmatched.

He carried the insistent whimsy of a child with the ability to drop 60 points in a game, something that’s still only been done by nine different players 16 different times in the last 26 NBA seasons — Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Tom Chambers, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan (four times), and Kobe Bryant (five times). Arenas’ brand of roller coaster fun captured basketball fans in Washington, and dragged franchise to its only sniff past the first round of the playoffs in the last 28 seasons.

Arenas was also the first big-time blogging athlete, and also one who exemplified the ills of careless athlete tweeting in the early days of the social media tool. Now, even with much of the league directly available in a variety of online ways, plot-twists similar to Arenas’ candid character cannot be found anywhere near in abundance. While Shaquille O’Neal is known as the predictable goofball, graphically depicted as a clown in Free Darko’s Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History with quips ready-made for his cushy new television gig, Arenas was depicted riding a bike on a tightrope above the circus, taking a risk for your attention.

“At the end of the day, everybody in this business knows that superstars get away with certain things. And at the time, Gil was Gil. Gil was on top of the world, making game-winning shots,” DeShawn Stevenson told me when his team at the time, the Dallas Mavericks, visited Washington in February 2010. “He doesn’t go out, he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t do stuff like that. So I think they kind of overlooked [the pranks] … everybody has something that’s bad. I think they over-looked that like it was his bad thing.”

The December 2010 trade that sent Arenas to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Rashard Lewis is a glowing wart on Orlando general manager Otis Smith’s inability to build a title team around Dwight Howard. For Wizard team president Ernie Grufeld, it relieved the knots in his stomach, and saved some money for his new boss, Ted Leonsis. Although, the current circumstance in D.C. likely doesn’t help Grunfeld’s stomach much.

Arenas’ knee, his psyche, and who knows what else, did not allow him any success on an Orlando team that got bounced by the seven-seed Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs. In 1,070 regular season minutes with Orlando his averages per 36 minutes were 13.2 points, 5.3 assists, 3.6 turnovers, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals. He shot 34.4-percent from the field and 27.5-percent from beyond the arc. Arenas’ 8.6 PER with the Magic equated him to Wayne Ellington in 2010-11, and slightly below the 8.8 season PERs of Travis Outlaw and Hilton Armstrong. The Magic paid Arenas an estimated $11,720 per minute of game clock time on the court, spread out over 49 games, before they sent him the amnesty way in early December 2011. Orlando still owes him just under $60 million through 2013-14. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy recently fell on the sword  and blamed himself for Arenas’ troubles in the Magic Kingdom.

In 21 games and 726 minutes with the Wizards at the beginning of last season, for which he was compensated an estimated $7,148 per minute of court action, Arenas’ numbers were more respectable — 18 points per 36 minutes, 39.4-percent on field-goals, 32.4-percent from three, a PER of 14.0. Still, no where near his once well-chronicled apex, nor a reflection of his time as a Wizard. In more than 350 regular season games over seven-plus seasons with Washington, he scored 8,930 points, good enough for eighth most in franchise history.

“I can’t remember past yesterday, so…” Arenas facetiously responded under the guise of a serious face upon his first trip back to Washington in February 2011 as a member of the Magic. He was being asked about bitter feelings toward the Wizards franchise in the aftermath of his locker room gun incident with Javaris Crittenton. After the game, a 110-92 Orlando win, Arenas still referred to D.C. as home. Most Washingtonians chose to fondly remember him with an appreciative and joyous ovation when he checked into the game off the bench. An audible minority chose to boo. It wasn’t championship-less Timberwolves fans welcoming back their Big Ticket in Kevin Garnett. It wasn’t Cleveland witnesses wanting their king LeBron stricken from the record. It was the polarizing Gilbert Arenas, the only player of epic legacy the Wizards have had while they’ve carried their current nickname. (If you’re wondering, Michael Jordan doesn’t count).

At the height of his career with the Wizards in 2006-07, in 74 games before hurting his knee, Arenas had a PER of 24.0, placing him 11th in the league, right above Steve Nash’s 23.8 — Nash’s ’06-07 was thought to be better than his previous two seasons in which he won back-to-back M.V.P. awards. Clearly Nash’s value on the court is much higher than a statistic could ever convey. Nonetheless, Arenas was supremely talented, and the difference from what he once was and what he seemed capable of just last season is significant. His per 36 averages in 2006-07: 25.8 points, 5.4 assists, 2.9 turnovers, 4.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals on 41.8-percent shooting from the field and 35.1-percent from long distance, where he made 2.5 threes per game. Those numbers would represent the last of his best.

The Wizards started that season slow, going 4-9 over their first 13 games. But by the end of January they were 27-18, and head coach Eddie Jordan would lead the Eastern Conference squad at the NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas the following month. During a break in the festivities, after a contingent of flying Elvis’ dunked off a trampoline, Arenas, an All-Star for the East, did the same, putting the ball through his legs while in the air. People ate such personality quirks up like half smokes. But that 2007 All-Star weekend would be it for the team constructed by Grunfeld that also featured Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. Fun Street came up on pro basketball like a D.C. pothole, many thanks due to the injury bug.

Jamison missed all of February with a sprained right knee; the Wizards went 4-7. Butler missed significant time that month with back spasms and a bruised knee forced him to miss time in March; the Wizards held on with a record of 7-8 that month. Then the April rains came. Days after returning from knee injury, Butler broke his index finger on the backboard trying to block Ruben Patterson’s shot, during a homecoming appearance in Milwaukee no less. Three days later on April 4 in Washington against the Charlotte Bobcats Arenas experienced that fateful collision with Gerald Wallace, tearing the meniscus in his left knee. The Wizards went 3-7 in the season’s final month and finished the year with 41 wins, 41 losses, and the seventh seed in the play0ffs. Jamison and a main supporting cast of Antonio Daniels, Jarvis Hayes and Darius Songaila were swept 4-0 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round.

The issues with Arenas’ knee and the Wizards’ descent since have been well documented. Arenas missed all of 2007-08, save for 13 games, his knee injury drama becoming its own sideshow. The Wizards cobbled together a 43-39 season and a 4-2 playoff series loss to the Cavaliers, again in the first round. Handcuffed by circumstance — not wanting to lose their own free agents for nothing, compounded by one last championship chase by former team owner, the late Abe Pollin — the Wizards heavily invested in risky propositions.

There was a message of hope contained in re-signing the 32-year old Jamison and the shaky-kneed Arenas in the summer of 2008 to the grand total of 10-years, $161 million. Jamison was a great player and community guy, perhaps deserving of being overpaid with a four-year, $50 million contract. And Pollin had taken the zero to hero Arenas under his wing, who was in turn a personality that put butts in seats and made the franchise a lot of money.

Riddled by continued knee issues and his own erratic nature, Arenas earnestly strove for a return to the court. But he did not have reasonable physical restraint, nor people and treatment around him capable enough to deal with injuries such as his, physically and mentally. After continued surgical procedures on his left knee, Arenas saw an NBA court only twice by the end of the 2008-09 season, a horrid campaign for the 19-63 Wizards.

Then came 2009-10. Before guns triggered trades of Butler, Jamison, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood, there was Arenas saying he felt profiled by the refs, Flip Saunders opting for gimmicks like pulling all five veteran staters in early in the third quarter after bad effort, and overall, a crumbling village of Wizards in an NBA kingdom, accented by the death of Abe Pollin at the end of November 2009. After Arenas asked Crittenton to “Pick One” of his novelty guns at the end of December and was subsequently suspended for the rest of the season by David Stern, on his January 6 birthday no less, the music had stopped. The thrill ride was over. In the NBA’s carnival, the Wizards had been reduced to a tightrope with no one to cross.

Perhaps for too long fans in Washington held on to the possibility of an Arenas return to glory. If you can shoot, you can shoot, right? No sir, in the NBA its often about leg strength and unwavering confidence. Arenas quickly seemed to be without either. But that’s not what made jettisoning him so easy for Grunfeld.

This past summer, people asked if Crittenton being charged with murder cast his card game dispute and gun involvement with Arenas in a different light. Whomever Crittenton really is, it’s hard to absolve Arenas’ penchant for crossing the line. The price he paid could be considered fair by most — the suspension, the money lost, the court case, the halfway house.

“Why can’t Tiger Woods get away with what he did when Lil’ Wayne can?,” I heard Arenas once wonder aloud in the Wizards locker room in late 2009, way before his gun incident. He speaking of Wood’s transgressions with women. Dissecting Gilbertology, he’s probably since wondered why Bryan “Baby” Williams, CEO of the aforementioned rapper’s record label, Cash Money Records, stood by Wayne’s side through gun charges while Grunfeld turned in Gilbert and his Desert Eagle to the NBA league office.

Arenas always considered himself an entertainer along the lines of a musician or an actor, so he never understood why his bad decisions came under such scrutiny on the sporting stage. He felt that as long as he was playing well, he was entitled to do as he pleased. And when he lost his effectiveness on the court, he thought he could cure everything with a joke.

No one cares to see the tightrope walker go back and forth all day; you either get to the other side or you fall. After hitting the safety net last year, Arenas remains entrenched in embarrassment bordering on irrelevance. No one knows if anyone’s going to extend him a ladder for a small climb from the depths, or if he’s just going to quietly fade under a deflating big top. It was a memorable performance nonetheless.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• February 4, 2011 -- Gilbertology Returns to the DC Airwaves; Agent Arenas is All Used Up
• November 19, 2010 -- Why Gilbert Arenas Chose No. 9
• March 27, 2010 -- Gazo The Prankster Makes An Appearance In Cartoon Form, Kinda

Bryon Russell will be forever cemented into Michael Jordan lore. You know exactly why. And evidently, Russell holds a solid spot in Washington Wizards/Gilbert Arenas lore as well.

Because of Jordan’s last shot as a Chicago Bull, a game six and championship winner that took place in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 14, 1998, which came courtesy of a Jordan push-off of Russell and subsequent burial of the Utah Jazz, Russell and Jordan will always be connected. The moment has been in/on video games, video game commercials, posters, artwork,  t-shirts, books, and captured via wide-ranging multimedia design. No one has been, and perhaps no one will ever be, more remembered for having a basketball shot hit on them. The rest of it travels down an unexpected road.

After the shot marinated in basketball history for over four years Russell teamed up with Jordan on the 2002-03 Washington Wizards, a team surrounded with strife and disaster that failed to even make the playoffs in Jordan’s final NBA season. Russell averaged 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds over 19.8 minutes per game and appeared in 70 contests. Russell then joined the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers, a team that epically failed to be a team in the NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons. No championship for Bryon. Russell played 16 total minutes during that playoff run, the swan songs for the careers of Karl Malone and Horace Grant, and the end of the Kobe/Shaq era; Gary Payton was also involved.

Russell next appeared in 70 games with the 2004-05 Denver Nuggets and in just one game for Denver the following season before retiring from the league. Then came September 2009. Jordan, in his Hall of Fame induction speech that was ‘so’ Jordan, made mention of Russell.

I was in Chicago in 1994 … and at this time I had no thoughts of coming back and playing the game of basketball. Bryon Russell came over to me and said, “Why’d you quit? You know I could guard you. If I ever see you in a pair of shorts …”

When I did come back in 1995 and we played Utah in ‘96, I’m at the center circle and Bryon Russell is standing next to me. I said, “You remember the [comments] you made in 1994 about, ‘I think I can guard you, I can shut you down, I would love to play against you? Well, you’re about to get your chance.’”

Russell responded in numerous outlets, challenging Jordan to a game of one-on-one (for charity). Russell claimed that a rematch could be “bigger than the O.J. trial,” showing more than a willingness to bask in the anti-glory, undoubtedly in a good-natured manner, but also seemingly desperate to prove himself against Jordan nonetheless.

By December ’09 NBDL team Utah Flash, spawned by owner Brandt Anderson’s willingness to front the 100K in charity money, claimed to have set up such an exhibition match during halftime of their season home opener against the Dakota Wizards, of all teams. That turned out to be a fan-angering hoax. The Flash attracted their largest crowd ever and denizens of Utah were giddy to see Jordan. When a fake Michael Jordan, amidst hype-building hoopla and surrounded by “bodyguards,” made his way to the court, fans became mad, showered the court with the free t-shirts they had received, and a majority abruptly left the premises. A game between the two never took place.

That represented the end of the odd aftermath of Russell-Jordan, which leads us to the part where that “weirdo” Gilbert Arenas is involved. Russell is responsible for Arenas’ existence as a Washington Wizard (indirectly, of course, and thanks to Twitter user @MPConsults for reminding me of this).

From a Washington Postarticle by Steve Wyche in June 2003 (text via here):

Washington Wizards forward Bryon Russell elected not to exercise his option on the final year of his two-year contract, leaving the team with unexpected savings of $1.54 million and an open roster spot.

“He has decided to become a free agent,” said Dwight Manley, who represents Russell.

Though Russell could land with another team, he likely would not garner the money he would have received from the Wizards this season. With Russell opting not to come back, the Wizards could be as much as $13.5 million under the salary cap this summer should guard Jerry Stackhouse opt out of the final two years and $15 million of his contract.

That surplus would be enough for Washington to try to lure some of the more prominent free agents on the market, such as point guard Jason Kidd, who has a strong relationship with new Wizards coach and former New Jersey Nets assistant Eddie Jordan, Andre Miller, Gilbert Arenas or P.J. Brown.

Stackhouse did not end up opting out of his contract. No, for some reason the genius Wizards decided to ink him to a 2-year, $18 million extension on June 26, 2003. But they still had enough money, thanks to Russell, to sign Arenas away from the Golden State Warriors in August. Fittingly (with team mis-history), Stackhouse was having his right knee scoped by October and didn’t make his first appearance that season until February 2004; he also missed the first half of March due to tendinitis in his ankle. Before the 2004 draft in June, Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and Devin Harris were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Antawn Jamison.

In many senses Wizards fans can be thankful that it wasn’t Jason Kidd or Andre Miller or P.J. Brown (FCOL!) targeted instead of Gilbert Arenas, I think — finally the Washington pro basketball team decided to go after a young free-agent instead of an older one.

So you see, Bryon Russell was responsible for Arenas, kind of, but I won’t hold him responsible for the recent photos of Arenas below (via the Twitter account of Laura Govan, @L4Govan).

Also remember: Russell ain’t the only Russell — there’s also Bill Russell, Russell Westbrook and Cazzie Russell, and via Kanye West, there’s Russell Brand and Russell Crowe, along with Naomi Russell, whom you are free to look up at your own NSFW discretion.

LINKS!

Congrats goes to former Wizards PR man Brian Sereno on his new position as head of athletic communications and PR at George Washington University. Sereno was a good guy who really went to bat for credentialing alternative forms of media with access to cover Wizards games.
[The GW Hatchet]

Also best of luck to Holly MacKenzie, moving on to work with Nike Basketball and departing from The Basketball Jones/The Score.
[The Score]

John Wall is ranked No. 25 in SLAM’s Top 50; the write-up on his arrival to D.C. is told only like a Wizards fan can tell it.
[SLAM]

Here’s a toast to Andray Blatche for all the positive things he’s been doing this summer in hopes that his maturity will show on the basketball court.
[Washington Times]

Locked-out Wizards Fan’s Guide to the Washington Capitals.
[Washingtonian]

Wizards television play-by-play man Steve Buckhantz used to be a television secret in 1997, appeared on the cover of cigar-themed magazines.
[DC Sports Bog]

Gheorghe Muresan caught a fish ‘thiiiiiiiiiiiis’ big.
[The Basketball Jones]

Kelly Dwyer goes harsh on NBA superstars.
[Ball Don't Lie]

A fun story by a writer for ESPN TrueHoop blog KnickerBlogger about trying out for the NBDL.
[TrueHoop]

The daughter of former Washington Redskin Mark Rypien plays in the Lingerie Football League.
Naturally, here is a picture (via @darrenrovell).

Who wants to sex Arvydas Sabonis? Because that’s all he’s really supposed to do.
[breitbart.com]

Remember Walt Williams of the Cleveland Indians? Of course you don’t.
[NotGraphs]

Finally, a picture of David Stern at the 1985 NBA All-Star game, within 12 months of him being named commissioner, with a beard photobomb in the background. Sweet.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• April 22, 2009 -- Wizards Fans, The Date is May 19th
• December 5, 2011 -- ShareBullets: John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins Think About The Future
• October 3, 2011 -- Washington Wizards Suspensions & Fines Since 1995

[Key Elementary School - NW Washington, DC - photo: K. Weidie]

Eventually, soon, I would like to make a more comprehensive post regarding Javaris Crittenton’s Tweets on this here site. There’s a problem with his Tweets… in that it’s Twitter. It would be very hard to gather context from each and every one of Crittenton’s Tweets, much less the small sample used for my piece on TrueHoop, or even from any number of people publishing thoughts and ideas on the social media tool.

To put it clearly: Nothing can be gathered, inferred, or deduced from Crittenton’s Tweets. They are simply an additional window into the life of a figure whom so many people are now trying to futilely gain information about. Yes, the Tweets came directly from his mind, but we don’t know what kind of filter he was putting his thoughts through… just like we don’t know what type of filter athletes, or anyone, puts themselves through during interviews and other media interactions.

There is, however, one misconception, or instance that needs more clarity: Crittenton’s six Tweets from the day of the murder in question, August 19.

From his timeline, it’s evident that he was at the movies, watching Planet of the Apes, on the night of the 18th and was tweeting about it past midnight into the 19th. Hence, some of his Tweets about the movie were date-stamped on the 19th. And while I don’t have time-stamps on Crittenton’s Tweets, his fifth Tweet from the 19th was a “@” reply to someone, reading: “@[Twitter name deleted] just been grinding. What’s up big boi? Ain’t seen you in a min” Looking at that user’s timeline, he replied back to Crittenton at 11:15 AM on August 19.

Crittenton’s fourth Tweet on the 19th quoted and responded to another user:  “@[Twitter name deleted]: @JayCrittDTE was it good??” Movie was real good. You gotta see it.” That user, according to their timeline, asked Crittenton the question at 11:15 PM on August 18 and responded “Cool” at 1:30 AM on August 19th.

So clearly, according to timestamps of other users, in lieu of the now unavailable timestamps from Crittenton’s deleted account, most all of Crittenton’s Tweets on the 19th occurred in either the morning or early afternoon hours. The murder purportedly occurred at 10 pm on the night of the 19th; Crittenton’s last Tweet of that day: “Good night world. Gotta get some rest. Super early workout in the am.”

What does this all mean? Well, if you read the first paragraph, nothing. What it does mean is that Crittenton, according to his Tweets, was not watching Planet of the Apes on the night of the murder, as some have wrongly concluded.

BASKETBALL WIVES!

Like all humans I am susceptible to bad judgment and making mistakes. It’s in this regard that I watched the debut VH1′s Basketball Wives earlier this week — you know, the one featuring Gilbert Arenas’ ex and mother of his children (whom he tried to keep from appearing on the show). So you see, if anything, I simply had to watch what Arenas’ money and lawyers didn’t want us to.  I meticulously took notes on the show in hopes of filing an official report, while paying a very snarky and cursory attention. Here goes…

• Laura Govan is on early, talking about dealing with rumors of an affair “with someone famous” and a public breakup… but names no names.
• The phrase, “You can’t help but to respect real,” is said by any number of involved parties.
• Someone says, “Smoke and mirrors,” which would seemingly become the  theme of choice for those on the show to describe each other.
• “Real” is said several times in one scene; “Gravy” is only said once.
• Someone says, “Did Malaysia really took off?” — Malaysia is evidently a volatile character on the show, associated with Jannero Pargo, and it’s well-advertised by her and others that she grew up in Compton.
• Suddenly some of the girls seem to be reading from a script, which strikes me as odd for reality television, but again, I’m not paying any attention.
• Then they end up in some restaurant and the estranged wife of Jayson Williams (ex-NBA player who is currently in jail for shooting his limo driver) says to the waiter: “Let me have what you consider to be the best thing here.”
• The thought then enters my mind about how deserving the involved players are/were of these seemingly terrible women whom I don’t know — the characters involved are: Matt Barnes, Gilbert Arenas, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jannero Pargo, Doug Christie, and all the NBA guys who slept with some other groupie chick on the show whom all the “wives” seem to hate.
• Exactly.
• It’s revealed that Govan evidently gained 84 pounds resulting from her latest pregnancy with Arenas’ child. DAMN THAT’S A BIG BABY!
• Things happen, people talk, I hear “smoke and mirrors” again.
• The Malaysia character keeps getting into it with Ron Artest’s lady… all I can think of is Mugatu, Will Ferrell’s character from the movie Zoolander, saying “Do as you are trained… AND KILL THE MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER!”
• Laura Govan then calls Malaysia a “rat,” evidently because she uses her middle name as her first name. Makes total sense.
• The show kind of ends with more confrontation. Somebody tells Govan, who was pregnant when this episode was filmed, “You’re having a baby, sit down!” — It might have been Malaysia, I don’t know, but then Malaysia punches Govan in the face (or something like that).
• And, done. We are all terrible people living in a terrible world, via Basketball Wives, and to the best of my ability I will try to cope with this.

LINKS!

> As so many media members try to relate “their” story about Javaris Crittenton, I particularly appreciated Scott Carefoot’s piece. Here’s an excerpt:

I’ve long suspected that most people who interview others as a significant portion of their jobs flatter themselves that these interviews allow them a glimpse into the windows of the true spirits of their subjects. More and more, I’ve become convinced that none of us should believe that we can understand what people are capable of, given the situation. In fact, I believe most people don’t really understand themselves well enough to know what they’re capable of doing. Maybe you have yourself convinced that you would never commit murder or adultery or betray your best friend, even if you could get away with it — but maybe you just haven’t been presented with the right motivation.

[The Basketball Jones]

> Wizards draft pick Chris Singleton seems to be penning some guest work for the Washington Times with the assistance of Carla Peay… and it all sounds nicely impressive. This excerpt:

I know the gossip about what some of these guys have been doing off the court, and frankly, some people need to grow up a little and eliminate some of that. But over time, we will develop our chemistry, and we’ll make the city of D.C. proud of us.

[Washington Times]

> Truth About It’s John Converse Townsend went to the Goodman-Melo League game last Tuesday and has written a nice column about Kevin Durant for TrueHoop.
[TrueHoop]

> If Nick Young signs to play in China, which would likely keep him from playing in the NBA in 2011-12, I imagine he would end up greatly regretting it… just a feeling based on observation. Then again, if the money isn’t bad and the NBA isn’t playing… I wouldn’t blame him.
[TrueHoop]

> Learnin’ in Baltimore via Craig Stouffer’s coverage of Goodman League vs. Melo League:

Similarities between street ball and actual NBA games are subtle but significant » The player hierarchy takes on exaggerated importance — Durant, James, Anthony and Chris Paul never left the floor and hogged the ball repeatedly — but it doesn’t change. James deferred to his all-star teammates (Anthony and Paul), and while Paul talked to reporters, he was meekly whisked out of the arena by his security detail.

[Washington Examiner]

> NBA owners don’t give a damn about winning the PR battle during the lockout. Why? Because winning the PR would be bad for them says Beckley Mason.
[HoopSpeak]

> Gilbert Arenas didn’t take too kindly to a jokester, Joe Mande, making jokes about his jokes, via a post of Arenas’ past Twitter avatars. Aside from all the static, the point seemingly is that a guy who will turn 30-years old next January has a lot of issues with women. One can only wonder why.
[The Basketball Jones]

> Michael Lee reports that Trevor Booker is in good shape after coming back from a broken foot experienced in March toward the end of last season. Booker will travel to play for a pro team in Israel on September 13.
[Wizards Insider]

> Speaking of playing overseas and traveling on the road overseas… Ernie Grunfeld’s son, Dan Grunfeld, wrote an enjoyable guest column about his experiences playing ball on the road domestic and abroad.
[SB Nation]

> Is there a chance for a Kwame Brown resurgence in Charlotte, where *gasp* he could be the starting center?
[Queen City Hoops]

> The D.C. Attorney General is NOT siding with Dan Snyder in the owner’s latest legal maneuvering to limit free speech.
[DCist]

> A good, honest review of Wale’s recent mixtape, The Eleven One Eleven Theory, which I wasn’t the biggest fan of, but still am a fan of Wale.
[Passion of the Weiss]

> Danny Chau takes us back to ’92-93 and the lost season of Richard Dumas.
[Hardwood Paroxysm]

> The big baller strip club that so many D.C. athletes like to attend, Stadium Club, actually started as an idea, with city funding, as a job training center for residents with HIV/AIDS. How it became a strip club, under the involvement of former gangster Cornell Jones, has led to some shadiness and a lawsuit from the city.
[Washington City Paper]

It must be fun to be able to dunk like JaVale McGee…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9h9ibL5KPo

Hamady N’diaye’s workout (and interview):

Other reads from Truth About It:

• July 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Wizards Weekender of Lockout Links
• August 24, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Earthquake After Effects & The Detriment of Gilbert Arenas’ Twitter Account
• January 27, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Portraits Of A Young Team & Wizards Picture Leftovers

>>

“Don’t show that weirdo no love homie.”

That’s what Javaris Crittenton wrote on Twitter in response to a Tweet sent by @TazWube on August 14. A piece I’ve written regarding Crittenton’s now-defunct Twitter account resides on ESPN’s TrueHoop.

Wube is a famed D.C. club promoter with a Wikipedia page that reads like a press release. His exact Tweet:

@TazWube #np Spend it/2 chainz– he says he brings all his guns to work–gibert arenas… Makes me remember I miss Agent O.. 6’4 and unstoppable!!

His “Gibert” Arenas (sans the ‘l’, pronounced GUY-burt) could only play, by means of misspelling, to the potential of Andray Baltche, one would assume.

Crittenton’s exact reply:

@JayCrittDTE What up fam? Be in DC next week. Don’t show that weirdo no love homie. “@TazWube: he says he brings all his guns to work–gibert arenas…

Well publicized is Arenas’s deleted Tweet on August 26 from his now also defunct Twitter account, not long after a murder warrant was issued for Crittenton’s arrest:

@agentzeroshow: i really wanna say sumthing but i wont becuz theirs a dead women invovled…

Snide, snarky and spelling not so well. We are all guilty.

Find a guy on the street, one with a semblance of awareness of the Washington Wizards (he must know that Oleksiy Pecherov got buckets … too broad?), and ask him if Arenas was a [pause for dramatic effect and then slowly say under your breath] WEIRDO?

Ask an ex teammate or so, perhaps another type of close acquaintance, what Arenas really wanted to say about Crittenton on Twitter before he stopped tweeting; their guesses would vary like the curvature of rings in a tree trunk.

One thing I am sure of, weirdo or not, is that this whole Javaris Crittenton thing is weird. Suspicious. Yet to be unfolded.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• September 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Basketball Wives & Crittenton’s Tweets
• January 2, 2010 -- The Birth of @GilbertArenas and The Death of @JayCrittDT
• October 3, 2009 -- Unheard and Unseen Cuts from Wizards Media Day

Unfortunately, good people, John Wall tragically lost his right arm in Tuesday’s earthquake. (#Moment of Silence)

Seems like the Jerry Stackhouse owned by @n1coolguy didn’t fare so well either.

 But hey, Stackhouse has long been a fixer-upper … See? Good as new.

LINKS!

> Hide that wife of yours, hide those kids of yours … A California Federal judge has rejected Gilbert Arenas’ attempt to keep his ex, Laura Govan, off of the VH1 show, ‘Basketball Wives’, granting Shed Media their anti-SLAPP motion.
[Hollywood Reporter]

Better yet, Arenas’ Twitter account seems to have played a role in the judgement rendered against him. Via the decision of Judge Dolly Gee:

“Arenas suggests that any discussion of his family life is not sufficiently related to his celebrity to render BWLA’s use of his identity a matter of public concern.  This contention is belied by the tens of thousands of Twitter users who follow Arenas as he tweets about a variety of mundane occurrences.”

How fiting. How American. How Gilly. (Or in this instance, I imagine, also… ‘How gully’)

> Michael Lee writes that JaVale McGee is “notoriously frugal” — See? He learned something from Brendan Haywood after all.
[Wizards Insider]

> Former Washington Bullet Jeff Malone will be inducted into the Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame in October.
[mstateathletics.com]

> Impact Basketball, a gym famous for training NBA talent, is talking about creating a basketball league consisting in upwards of 70 NBA players at the gym’s home base in Las Vegas. People are talking, etc.
[HoopsWorld]

> Dudes perform trick basketball shots around the District:

[h/t DC Sports Bog]

> Manute Bol once said “Fuck you, Charles Barkley” (for a reason), but now, this uncovered photo of Barkley dunking on Bol.
[Mr. Irrelevant]

> Please go support the panel that ESPN TrueHoop’s Kevin Arnovitz is trying to develop at SXSW 2012.
[SXSW Panel Picker]

> Web startup BuildZoom.com is seriously offering employment to NBA players during the lockout. I wonder if that includes the likes of Delonte West, Kendrick Perkins and Gilbert Arenas.
[PRweb.com]

> Former Washington National Nyjer Morgan is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. Ah, seems like only yesterday Tony Plush was irking the Wizards by asking for courtside VIP tickets to a game and then wearing a Golden State Warriors jersey to it.
[Mr. Irrelevant]

> Remember when Andray Blatche lent his name to “Lap Dance Tuesdays” at a Miami club and it was totally a big deal? Of course you do. Well, seems like the gentlemanly Antawn Jamison was recently partying at the very same club in Miami. Clearly, Jamison’s top billing isn’t as descriptive, but I imagine the same things went on inside.

Jamison really had a relationship with the camera that night, it seems. It’s like the camera was some long-lost ex-girlfriend who ended things on bad terms but all of a sudden showed up in a distant city where it was advertised that Jamison would be partying. Totally.

[pictures via 400Life.com]

Other reads from Truth About It:

• July 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Wizards Weekender of Lockout Links
• December 28, 2010 -- ShareBullets: Charles Barkley Shake Weights Some Links
• June 22, 2010 -- LINKS: It’s All About John Wall, faster than a speeding cheetah

On several planes, Gilbert Arenas and Dan Snyder are totally alike. On about a million they are not.

One commonality I can easily think of is that they both appear to be utterly oblivious to the general sensibilities of those who live in reality. Now, it’s not completely the fault of these men that they live in a fantasy world – NFL owner, a $100 million contract NBA man — but the ridiculous ways they can act is on their own accord.

Another similar trait of the two maligned D.C. sports figures? (One of whom the city no longer has to deal with.) Both are championing legal maneuvers against free speech.

In mid-June lawyers for the Washington City Paper made a filing, under anti-SLAPP laws passed in the District of Columbia last December, seeking to dismiss Snyder’s well-documented lawsuit against the local weekly alt-newspaper because of a November 2010 article written by the WCP’s Dave McKenna, “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder.”

The ACLU, along with D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh and several organizations — the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, the Maryland-District of Columbia-Delaware Broadcasters Association, the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, National Public Radio, Allbritton Communications (publisher of TBD and Politico), Atlantic Media Inc. (publisher of National Journal and The Atlantic), WUSA-TV (Channel 9), the Public Access Corporation of the District of Columbia, Politico, the Public Participation Project, the Environmental Working Group, and Public Citizen — co-signed the fight to dismiss Snyder’s lawsuit against the City Paper with an amicus brief of their own.

For reference, SLAPP stands for ”strategic lawsuit against public participation,” and quoting from its Wikipedia entry, it is, “a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.”

So, you can probably imagine what anti-SLAPP laws aim to do. Snyder has also imagined, and on August 1 his lawyers filed a response to the City Paper‘s motion to dismiss, mostly saying that anti-SLAPP laws are unconstitutional and that the D.C. City Council did not have the authority to pass such a law in the first place; this according to a blog post on the City Paper‘s website.

Essentially, Snyder is saying that laws intended to keep wealthy public figures from silencing critics with their money are un-American. How’s that for the owner of a racist Native American logo football team?

Where does Gilbert Arenas fit into the anti-SLAPP-ing?

Arenas and his lawyers have been filing their own motions to prevent fair critique in a free world. On Monday June 20 it was announcedthat Arenas’ ex and mother of his four children, Laura Govan, would be appearing on the upcoming season of VH1′s Basketball Wives. By Thursday of that week, the day of 2011 NBA Draft, Arenas was said to be filing federal suits in Los Angeles aiming to keep Govan off the show.

For a guy who is so candid on Twitter, this left us all wondering what Arenas was trying to hide? Or rather, was his warped sense of reality seemingly trying to determine which juicy gossip should be released in his world of ”controlled chaos” and which should not?

But that won’t exactly stop VH1, or Govan. As Arenas’ attorneys have ramped up efforts to keep Govan off the show, Shed Media, the producer of Basketball Wives, recently filed their own anti-SLAPP motion against Arenas. Here is the relevant quote from the motion via The Hollywood Reporter:

“In a showing of unparalleled hubris, Plaintiff claims that he is so famous and important that simply mentioning the words ‘basketball wives’ in the same sentence as Govan’s name — even without actually mentioning Plaintiff’s name — impermissibly impinges on his rights. Essentially, Plaintiff claims that because he is famous, his ex-girlfriend is not allowed to talk about herlife. Plaintiff is wrong. Govan has a constitutional right to tell her story, even were it to result in an unauthorized biography of Plaintiff.”

Not to have her own voice go unheard, Govan also recently gave a phone interview to Loop21.com.

“Hell naw!,” Govan says when asked if she’s worried that Arenas’ motions will keep her off the show. And when asked if she’s spoken to Arenas since he made the filing, Govan says:

“Yea, I talk to him all the time. He’s still the father of my children. And we have a great relationship. It’s funny because we’ll sit and we’re talking and I’ll be like, “Damn, dog. You’re suing me like a hundred times. Like, what’s up with that?” But, we’re cleaning it up. It just takes time because he’s filed so many goddamn things against me. And now we’re at the point where we’re just cleaning stuff up. We’re just looking to really, really be good parents to our children.”

Damn, dog… Finally, somebody cares about the kids.

In any case, congrats to both Arenas and Snyder. In so many ways, via lawyers, lawsuits and big money priviledge, they represent America. In so many ways, their efforts against free speech represent Syria.

I can’t say I’m a fan of Basketball Wives, which could probably be re-titled, “Spread ‘Em For Money” (because to be on the show, in fact, you need not be an actual “wife”), but if all the legal wrangling and ridiculousness means that thirsty Americans can continue to feast on the train-wreck blood of the lives of others, then I’m all for it.

Otherwise, why are we blogging anyway? Thank you U.S. of A.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• September 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Basketball Wives & Crittenton’s Tweets
• August 24, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Earthquake After Effects & The Detriment of Gilbert Arenas’ Twitter Account
• June 20, 2011 -- ShareBullets: John Wall Wears Philly Flyers Hat, Hands Out $20s

Meanwhile, Arenas continues to be in the contradictory mode of ‘they wanted me out, but I gave them plenty of reasons’ on Twitter. He is very ‘woe is me’, while claiming a lesson has been learned. If only Arenas knew how to not keep himself from proving maturity when it counts.

The abrupt end of one long-running and significant ownership era resulting from the passing of Abe Pollin will only add to the natural sensationalizing of ’09-10. But old flames — the one time poster boy and the patriarch of D.C. pro basketball — passed by new sprouts on their way out.

The 2010-11 season, on one hand, as another lottery year for the franchise, might be as forgettable as the rest. But a change in ownership is a very important event. Just think about how crucial ownership is to your opinion of the Washington Redskins.

The christening of a ‘face of the franchise’ No. 1 overall draft pick in John Wall isn’t lost either, at least in terms of the unknown future that current comfort in Wall’s rookie scale salary provides. Still… all of this at the same time? Very rare are the instances when a team makes such a drastic and quick change in leadership, which is why ’10-11 is equally as sensational as ’09-10.

Part of Ted Leonsis’ inaugural 2010 ownership pizazz was hosting a ‘Midnight Madness’ for fans of his team on the piggy of the annual rites of Media Day. Whether the Wizards will hold another Midnight Madness should the NBA ever return from lockout is up to question, I wouldn’t put it past them.

Nonetheless, this transition represented by last September’s kick-off anew, while the old leading player literally passed by the new one en route to a full separation in December 2010, should be commemorated, even celebrated, in some form. Thus, the video below features a photo montage of both the Media Day and Midnight Madness events, and the music of local DMV band The Five One. Enjoy.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• September 29, 2010 -- Enjoying The Fun of The Washington Wizards
• October 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Do We Even Know John Wall?
• August 12, 2010 -- How The Wizards’ Future Has Changed: Power Rankings With Foresight From Hollinger and Ford

Speaking of finger guns, what is our old pal Gilbert Arenas doing here?

His Twitter @agentzeroshow explanation: “I got on my mo hawk for shawn M..if he can wear a mo hawk durn the nba finals I guess I can wear in my house”

More Former Wizards?

James Singleton and Josh Howard (yes, I’m counting him as a former Wizard, for now) recently appeared separately on the Hardcore Hoops radio show from our Canadian friends at The Score.

In brief:

Josh Howard on what he’d do in the event of a lockout:

“I’d continue to work and rehab. I know y’all know I had that knee injury when I first got traded to Washington, so I actually think that would benefit me, with just getting back to my normal self.”

He later said anything would be an option, playing-wise, i.e., Europe, it just depends on the future situation.

Howard on, as a free-agent, joining a rebuilding team or taking a pay cut to chase a championship:

“As far as a pay cut, I feel like I was fortunate enough to make money [with] Dallas, so that’s now a big deal to me. As far as being part of a rebuilding team, I think I was in Washington this past year and a half … sitting back and watching, and learning another side of my personality as far as coaching. You know a lot of people don’t  know that that’s something I enjoy. Just getting out there trying to motivate young kids to go out there and play. As far as being on a championship team, I know the things I bring to the court would help a lot of teams out. I think ultimately it’s up to me, I can go either way.”

Howard was also on to promote the wide range of events at his celebrity weekend coming up in late June, details can be found at JoshHowardWeekend.com. The weekend includes a comedy show, so Howard was asked if any NBA players are going to make their stand-up debut (pronounced daye-BOO in Canada) at the show:

“Naw, but I know in my locker room, the guys I had on this team this past year, ya’ll would have some good footage as far as comedy. Boy, those guys are fun-ny, boy.”

At least in losing, we know there was comedy.

James Singleton … it doesn’t sound like he’ll be going to play basketball back in China any time soon. If you’ll remember, he somewhat spurned the Wizards to sign with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. The city he played in must not have had much in terms of food options, Singleton said he ate mostly eggs and rice when he arrived until he found an Italian place to order from; and on the road, it was mostly McDonald’s and KFC. But don’t worry, Singleton said the practices that would last 6-7 hours per day kept him in shape.

He also claims: “The contact in the NBA is nothing compared to the contact over there.”

And on the ‘lost in translation’ struggles with teammates in China, Singleton says:

“They had a coach there that was just … military … you know, he wouldn’t let them progress and learn. You know everything was one way or no way. And they were so afraid to just go out there and play basketball that it got to the point where we got to the championship, they all just locked up because if they made a mistake, they’d look straight at the bench.”

Finally… Mike James

Young reader of TAI and big Wizards fans Ben Mehic recently got in touch with Mike James to work on his interview skills. Since Ben doesn’t have a blog of his own, I told him I’d post his Q&A here… and it’s very cool for Mike to always make himself available to young fans. Many thanks to both Ben and Mike. Here goes….

Ben Mehic: First off, I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to do this interview. I’m a huge Wizards fan, so it’s an honor.

Mike James: Anytime.

Ben M.: How did growing up in a troubled neighborhood help you grow on and off the court?

James: I had to make it, it was no other option for me. I’m the baby of seven and the only one to go to college and graduate. My mother and father have middle school educations, they had to drop out because they had to provide for their families growing up. The only other option for me was the streets, so I put my trust in the B-ball. My neighborhood taught me how to be a fighter and never back down from a challenge, no matter how the odds were stacked up against me.

Ben M.: Who helped you achieve your goals becoming a pro basketball player, and who did you view as your hero growing up?

James: I really had no help growing up as a youth. Mostly everything I learned was from trial and error. Everyone tried to tell me I couldn’t be a basketball player, so maybe it was the odds that motivated me, wanting to prove everyone wrong. I had no real heroes growing up. I learned to be self-motivated at an early age. I liked Michael Jordan, Kevin Johnson, Tim Hardaway, but I wanted to be where they were. I wanted to be on the court at Madison Square Garden, and I wouldn’t let no one tell me I couldn’t.

Ben M.: Besides being the only undrafted NBA player in history to average 20 points per game, what else did you take away from playing in the NBA?

James: The thing I took away from the league most is don’t let no one determine your value of who your are and what you’re capable of doing. Hard work will always beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard. What you think of yourself will take you further in life than the box that people try to put you in. If you allow them to box you in, then you are defeated.

Ben M.: What advice can you give to kids growing up who want to achieve their goals?

James: The advice I give kids is never stop believing in yourself. Always fight for your dreams. Sometimes things come easy to some, but that may not be your story. That doesn’t mean give up on yourself. All that means is you have to go a little harder are put up that much more of a fight to make your dreams come true. Without GOD in your life, it may be easy to get where your going, but impossible to maintain.

Ben M.: What’s your take on the current Washington Wizards? (John Wall, Jordan Crawford, etc.)?

James: Washington’s future is very bright. No one expected Jordan Crawford to have as much success as he has. John Wall is a young phenomenon. They have very good young pieces that if they decide to keep together, not only can they be an exciting team, but a very dangerous squad.

Ben M.: Thanks again for taking this interview. Much appreciated.

James: You can also go to amazon.com and buy my book, “Fight for your dreams.” It’s a surprisingly good read. Take care and GOD bless.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• June 8, 2011 -- ShareBullets: A Man With A Plan
• April 13, 2010 -- The Wizards Wear Hats, and Even Represent the Nats
• October 8, 2009 -- Wizards v. Grizzlies: Leftover Table Scraps & Pictures

Of course close members of the media are reaching out to the @agentzeroshow Twitter account. Of course it is responding.

Of course it sounds like typical Gilly. Of course, well-studied imposters can be quick to deceive.

Of course, we all remember what happened the last time Arenas was on Twitter. Of course David Stern probably already has a little bird tweeting in his ear about it.

Of course this might not be the best way to rebuild an image. Of course, doesn’t seem like a lot is going well for Arenas right now anyway, much to his own doing… but still, can’t the man fish? And isn’t he free to Tweet in America?

Of course, perhaps.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• July 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Wizards Weekender of Lockout Links
• October 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Do We Even Know John Wall?
• September 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Basketball Wives & Crittenton’s Tweets

I wouldn’t exactly go entrusting Gilbert Arenas to head a franchise rebuilding project any time soon. Although, the whole gun thing certainly did have a part in expediting the Wizards’ current rebuilding efforts, so kudos to that.

On the other hand, Arenas is no dummy. Someone who is as quotable and clever-witted as he is, one who has played games with the media in the past, is certainly smart enough to have that brain power translate when it comes to basketball insight as a 10-year NBA veteran (just not always when it comes to where to draw the line with pranks).

Amongst saying this and that after his return to D.C. on Friday night, Arenas had some interesting thoughts on rebuilding and how the Wizards should treat John Wall:

“Just from being a fan of the NBA, I don’t believe in rebuilding teams through drafts. It doesn’t work. Because eventually those guys got to get old at some point. And if they all become successful, eventually you have to pay them … when you can’t afford them. That’s what happened with the Blazers. I mean, you can name every team. They’ll have one, two years of success and then eventually those players … can’t afford them anymore. Oklahoma, you got [Jeff] Green coming up … what are you going to do with him? Then after him you got [Russell] Westbrook, and then the rest of the young guys.

If I’m running the team, I’m looking at Wall and I’m going to put veteran players around him. That’s how you build him. You can’t have him out there playing, learning bad basketball. I mean, you know, it’s just like putting a young player in the D-League. You’re going out there, just throwing up shots and learning bad habits. Just like when [Rajon] Rondo, his second year, he got put with those All-Stars, he learned playing winning basketball and I think that’s what they need to do. Derrick Rose, same thing … eventually put veterans around him so he can learn faster. You keep young players the same age, they all learn bad habits. None of them learn how to win.”

I’m not going to get into dissecting Arenas’ strategy too much (me thinks Sam Presti and the Oklahoma Thunder will be alright, but nothing is certain). I think you do carefully build through the draft; Ted Leonsis would certainly give Arenas some stats and talking points otherwise.

However, Arenas is right about the presence of veterans being key to the development of young players such as John Wall. The Wizards are doing okay with Rashard Lewis and Kirk Hinrich as veterans, but they’re not particularly strong forces, and their efforts are further dampened by the play of others dragging the team down as a whole. This is issue number one for the Washington Wizards, in that their middle core of young players lacks basketball intelligence.

It’s time for Flip Saunders to stop babying some through persistent poor focus and decision-making. Effort is sometimes greater than experience, which makes one wonder about the protectionism around the starting positions of certain players.

The Wizards’ plan for rebuilding has been set forth, it’s just hard to evaluate where exactly the team is in the process because they’re so mentally bogged down on the court. Something tells me, however, that the team should be glad Arenas is not in charge of the rebuild. His ‘you don’t rebuild through the draft’ sentiment is reminiscent of many of Isiah Thomas’ decisions.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• March 16, 2011 -- Under The Hoop: Washington Wizards vs. Milwaukee Bucks
• December 28, 2010 -- ShareBullets: Charles Barkley Shake Weights Some Links
• December 8, 2010 -- Chalk Up Moral Victory No. 3 In 115-108 Loss To Lakers; Should The Wizards Be Ready To Stand Behind Their Message Of Toughness?

Gilbert Arenas begrudgingly dealt with the media on his return trip to Washington on Friday night. Well, that’s not entirely true. He was in no mood to talk before the game. After his Magic handled the Wizards 110-92, and as soon as the press was let into the Orlando locker room, Arenas rolled his eyes and said, “I was doing a lot better about 10 seconds ago.” He then exclaimed that he didn’t mean to be rude, but he was going to go take a shower … as 20 or so members of the media waited.

And they would continue to wait. Arenas knew this. He wants to talk, he just acts like he doesn’t. Yea, you remember ‘that’ guy … because that’s how Gilbert is, always looking for a show, or an angle, or to just make people wait for him. After he disappeared beyond the shower door just next to his spot in the visitor’s locker room, Dwight Howard joked with the media that he wasn’t going to come out.

“Agent Zero!, Agent Zero!,” Howard mocked the mass of microphones and cameras. “Agent One!,” another Magic player responded from across the room. Howard later joked that Arenas was taking a bath while another reporter joked that he might have found an escape route through the drain. Howard clearly didn’t know Arenas and how much the D.C. media, myself included, feeds off just about any quote that comes out his mouth, eager to jettison them into the algorithm in the form of pixels, tiny little pixels. “Well, we’re going to wait,” I responded to Howard at one point.

When Arenas was done with his excruciatingly long shower, he again put on an act of the unwilling.

“Y’all know the Super Bowl’s going on, right?,” he said as he finished getting dressed from a seated position, surrounded by dozens of pairs of feet. When he was asked who he liked in the game, his retort was simply: “Whoever wins.”

But when he started talking, he was … well, Gilbert Arenas … animated and quote-worthy as usual, but not too much. We’re not talking about pooping-in-shoe stories here.

One of Arenas’ moments, where he gave himself a good chuckle or two, along with the encroaching scrum, came when he spoke about his old buddy Nick Young.

On the night, Arenas scored just 10 points on 4-12 shooting in 25 minutes of the bench. He added six rebounds, six assists, three turnovers and two steals. His counterpart friend scored 17 points, but on 7-20 from the field. And to complete that very Nick Young stat line: one rebound, two assists and three turnovers in 36 minutes. Wait, two assists? Okay, so maybe that part wasn’t very Nick Young.

Arenas checked into the game at the 1:31 mark of the first quarter, to what I estimated to be a 6-1 cheer-to-boo ratio, and got both a steal and a block versus Young before the period buzzer sounded.

After the game, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy praised Arenas for his defense, said it kept him in the game down the stretch, said he’s probably never heard a coach say that about him before. And what did Gilbert say when asked about said defense?

“I mean, I’m playing defense against somebody I taught every move to … So, you know, that was pretty easy for me,” he said.

Later, Arenas was asked if he got into Young’s head.

“I got in Nick’s head last week,” he said with a laugh and a subsequent pause. “He never scores on me,” more smiles, another pause, “He already knew what was going to happen, you know, so, I didn’t really do nothing different than I did in practice. He never scored in practice, so I knew he was never going to score in the game,” the master said confidently. “I see Flip was trying to get him involved to try to break the little spell I have over him, but not this time,” Gilbert concluded … with another smile of course.

My colleague Rashad Mobley, who covered the Wizards’ locker room tonight while I took a trip to the other side, told me that Flip Saunders’ press conference went long and that Nick had ducked out in the process.

Someone was able to catch Young before he left, the Wizards releasing this quote from him on his match-up with Arenas: “He was talking to me throughout the game but I really didn’t hear too much, I was keeping my focus. He came in as regular Gil, doing what he does best with us and the bench but we tried to look past it.”

Guess Nick didn’t look past Gil enough.

The apprentice remained the apprentice. The master remained Gilbert Arenas. Same guy, taking the same pleasure out of being the prevailing bully over the younger, less confident mark. Same guy, different uniform, doing all he can do to move forward.

“We’re going to miss you around here,” sighed one national reporter who resides in the Washington area after talking to Arenas.

I think we already do, yet there’s even more comfort to be found in all parties moving on.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• February 5, 2011 -- When Roles Get Lost: Wizards Fall To Magic 110-92
• February 4, 2011 -- Arenas and Young: No Longer Teammates, But Still Friends
• November 28, 2010 -- Flip Saunders: ‘Well, we competed.’ – Encouraging Signs As Wizards Fall To Magic 100-99

Midway through pre-game warm-ups before tip-off of Arenas’ return to Washington as a member of the Orlando Magic, a basketball “mysteriously” went astray from the other side of the floor, bouncing right near Arenas. None other than Young surfaced to claim the errant ball, smile on his face and eager to catch up with his friend. Below are a couple pictures of their encounter…

Other reads from Truth About It:

• March 16, 2011 -- Under The Hoop: Washington Wizards vs. Milwaukee Bucks
• February 5, 2011 -- When Roles Get Lost: Wizards Fall To Magic 110-92
• February 4, 2011 -- Gilbert Arenas: Still Himself, Still Has A Spell Over Nick Young

Gilbert Arenas’ tenure as a Washington Wizard, on the court and off, will be remembered in a variety of ways. Some long ago formed a set opinion of him, even before the gun incident. For others, that incident tainted his legacy in D.C. forever. Some choose to mostly remember the fun Gil, the one who hit game-winning shots, led his team to wins, and blogged in a fun manner about it all. Still others, such as myself, continue to digest the meaning of his time with the team, and all the extras.

It’s been done before to certain degrees and from certain angles, and yet there is still plenty of time to further contemplate Arenas and the Wizards. But tonight, as Gilbert makes his first return to Washington as a member of the Orlando Magic, it’s time to look back upon his last official act as a Wizard — his last game against the New Jersey Nets on December 16, 2010 — and how the curiosity of his actions, and subsequent loss, is somewhat fitting, also representing just a small decomposing piece amongst the last ruins of a construction project that ultimately failed to get past the second round of the playoffs. We can’t all be champions, and that’s okay … and which is why we seek memories of good and bad otherwise.

Michael Lee had a very good feature story on the Arenas trade in today’s Washington Post. The relevant excerpt:

The deal wouldn’t have occurred without the approval of Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, who had been adamant since the summer that Arenas wasn’t “going anywhere.” Leonsis shot down a rumor a few weeks before, expressing support for Arenas.

But according to multiple league sources, Leonsis’s position changed when he started to believe Arenas no longer wanted to be in Washington. A person with knowledge of the situation said Leonsis became upset after hearing that Arenas was telling those close to him that a home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers would be his final game in a Wizards uniform and that he was likely headed to Orlando. The comment was a surprise to Leonsis, according to the source, because he was unaware of any trade discussions involving Arenas.

Arenas played the next game, a loss in New Jersey, but was dealt two days later.

So let’s go back to Arenas’ last act as a Washington Wizard in the handy video below…

If the deal wasn’t sealed already, this was Arenas’ last attempt to put the nail in the coffin himself.  And now we move on…

Other reads from Truth About It:

• November 1, 2009 -- Wizards v. Nets: Post Game 3 Video & Best Web Cuts
• October 2, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Do We Even Know John Wall?
• July 15, 2011 -- Since The Madness: The Transition of the Washington Wizards

Gilbertology was on full display during Arenas’s lengthy radio interview on Thursday with Mike Wise and Holden Kushner on DC’s 106.7 The Fan.

Arenas discussed his thoughts on John Wall, reflected on his experience in Washington, revealed what he really told Andray Blatche, took responsibility for his mistakes, hoped Wizards’ fans will eventually forgive him, and opened up about his time in the halfway house, where he learned to play chess.

The juicy parts, since we’ve yet to hear Arenas comment on this matter, were him refuting some of the personal dirty laundry that the mother of his children and ex-finance, Laura Govan, had been airing in public. He somewhat told his side of the story and kept returning, often unprovoked, to the sore subject of his failed relationship. You could definitely tell he is knee deep in the angry, bitter stage of grief.

I created a video incorporating pictures and audio from the former agent… enjoy.

And yes, sadly, the sharks are dead.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• March 12, 2010 -- Video: Mike Miller Talks About Giving Up His Number For Gilbert
• October 16, 2009 -- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Arenas, Gilbert Calls The Media “Lazy”
• January 6, 2012 -- Gilbert Arenas Is 30 Years Old

Gilbert Arenas’ recent Q&A with ESPN.com’s Michael Wallace was disappointing, to say the least. So let’s look back at some interesting tidbits from it, starting with the best part, which came at the end:

Arenas was asked: “Do you look back on anything that played out over the last 12 months with any regret?”

His answer: “Nope. No need to. Look around me. I’ve got a fresh start. I’ve got too much to look forward to.”

At one level, you think, ‘What an asshole.’ I’m sure Arenas wasn’t meaning to be an asshole, but it is an asshole-ish response.

But as a baseline, it’s a very selfish comment that comes as no surprise. Essentially, Arenas does not regret initially using his kids as a conduit for a lie to cover up his actions (because as court evidence would confirm, he brought guns into the locker room from home on the day of the incident … in a frontward facing backpack no less), then using guns as a “prank” in the building of the deceased owner of the Wizards, an owner who’d clearly made efforts against gun violence one of his priorities.

From words I heard Arenas casually speak while he was still a Wizard this season, I’m still under the impression that he continues to find himself less than culpable for his gun-related actions … making quips about the “real” story still not being out and what-have-you.

And now, none of that matters to him. It doesn’t matter than his airplane card game bullying effectively ended Javaris Crittenton’s NBA career. It doesn’t matter how uncomfortable he left the rest of his teammates. Arenas continues to make himself believe that all of that was blown out of proportion. Perhaps that’s another one of his ways of dealing with things — just like mocking the matter via Twitter. Now, he’s just lying to himself.

“But this act right here [the gun thing] is totally different than [other Arenas pranks] … I mean this is … you don’t play around with this type of situation. Something could have went wrong.”

Those were Antawn Jamison’s words not long after the gun incident. The Gentleman Jamison was clearly affected, a sentiment easily reflected by others with the organization who were made uncomfortable by the presence of guns. But concerns of teammates seemingly do not come into Arenas’ consideration.

Arenas was also asked by Wallace: “A year ago today, a year removed from the infamous moment in the locker room in Washington, do you remember what the atmosphere was like, what the mood was like?”

His response: “It was December 21st. The funny part about it is, the atmosphere was no different than it usually is. It wasn’t as big as everyone [made it] seem. It was like three minutes, and then everybody was back to normal. Everybody was joking about it. And then, nine days later, it becomes … (drifts to silence).”

Not sure what Arenas meant by “normal” … I suppose “normal” was a team that continued to drift amidst losing futility … a team mired with an 8-17 record prior to the gun incident … a team falling vastly short of expectations with two of its three main players (Arenas and Caron Butler) clearly not getting along. Yea, pretty normal I suppose.

And in the first game after the gun incident? Well, after his starters — Arenas, Randy Foye, Butler, Jamison and Brendan Haywood — came out with a horrendously poor effort in the first four minutes of the second half against the Philadelphia 76ers, Flip Saunders subbed all of them out at once, replacing them with Earl Boykins, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Andray Blatche and Fabricio Oberto. Upon checking out, the usually cool-headed Jamison swung and punched the baseline scrolling advertising machine with the side of his first. The move by Saunders later served as the catalyst for the starters returning to game and taking down a bad Sixers team.

But all was pretty normal, right?

When asked by Wallace: “How often do you still reflect on the darkest moments of that ordeal?”

Arenas countered with classic blame deflection: “I reflect back on it and, put it like this, I’ve seen worse in our locker room.”

When given a chance to reflect on his own deeds, Arenas points to the deeds of others, which he then chooses not to expand upon. Kinda sounds like my reasoning with teacher when I got in trouble in the third grade … “But look what Johnny did!” {points finger in Johnny’s direction}.

I’m neither surprised nor incensed at Arenas’ comments. I’m disappointed. Disappointed that he still doesn’t really get it. Disappointed that he uses childlike tactics to clear his conscious. Disappointed that Arenas is kicking the pendulum from ‘thanks for the memories’ to ‘good riddance’. But that’s what classic Gilbertology is all about, a separation and escape from reality. Good luck.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• November 11, 2009 -- The Wizards-Heat Game In Four Frames
• October 3, 2009 -- Unheard and Unseen Cuts from Wizards Media Day
• April 22, 2009 -- Wizards Fans, The Date is May 19th

Let’s go back to mid-November when I asked Arenas why he went from jersey No. 0 to No. 6 to No. 9…

You can’t really go through a proper rebirth unless you change cities, traditionally speaking in the professional sports world. And now that Arenas has found a warm place in Orlando outside of the rebirth canal, he has switched jerseys again, going from No. 9 to No. 1 in the spirit of Penny Hardaway.

Ted Leonsis implored people to re-embrace Arenas, insisted that his team wasn’t looking to trade to maligned former star. But that was more about feel-good marketing buzz, not the type of words that make decisions. We knew this. We knew it’d be easier for Leonsis to alter his sound bites when rebuilding efforts naturally can involve decisions on the fly.

In part of his last contribution to the algorithm on Arenas, Leonsis writes:

“He has intimated that he would feel more comfortable playing for a contender and not playing as a mentor to young players. He needed a fresh start and I wish him well in this next phase of his career. The trade helps us to accelerate our rebuild.”

Early talk of re-embracing Arenas aimed to make Gilbert feel better. That’s the type of person Leonsis is, one to help the fallen. And so the sales pitch regarding pre-trade Arenas shouldn’t be taken as double-talk, it aimed to keep all in the kingdom calm as the gears turned. Leonsis is also the type who lets those in place make decisions and do their job. And in this instance, the move seemed right to Grunfeld, so it was naturally going to have to work for Leonsis.

Putting aside grumblings in trade maneuver permutations, watch the video below of Arenas’ first formal interview as a member of the Orlando Magic. Look how happy he is. He’s still a personable guy despite his foot-in-mouth history of mischievous word-smithing and trouble-making. Gilbert even purchased his own plane ticket and scurried out of town. Don’t see it as him anxious to leave D.C., but ready to get something new started instead. Wouldn’t you do the same (if you were a basketball player with day-to-day games and the what-not)?

Although, it is weird to hear Arenas spout out about being docile because he wasn’t the man in D.C. anymore. Poor fella. He always had a way with the theatrics, the ‘woe is me’ kind included.

“Going back and changing my number wasn’t a new beginning, this is a real new beginning. New city, new people, new team. I get to start fresh,” Arenas says.

Good luck Gilbert, it’s going to be harder than you think.

[via Orlando Sentinel]

“I know it didn’t end like I would have liked. I had a great time playing in Washington – They made me feel like a rock star while I was there. I wish I could have took them further than the second round,” Arenas messaged Chris Miller of CSN Washington.

Rock on Gil.

Top Arenas Quotes.

[Mike Wise -  Washington Post]

I’ve said this many times: Worse than making an embarrassing perp walk at D.C. Superior Court or actually being booked into the Montgomery County Pre-Release Center, Arenas had to face the indignity of realizing what he had done to the Wizards. Every night he walked on that floor, he knew he had no support to make basketball matter in Washington in May or June. Because there is no talent beyond Wall, Kirk Hinrich, an injured Josh Howard and a bunch of guys who may or may not become bona fide role players on a playoff team. There are better summer runs at Pauley Pavilion than there are at Verizon Center on most nights.

[Michael Lee - Washington Post]

A divorce was inevitable; Arenas had expressed his desire to leave to those close to him for several months. So when he arrived at media day looking like Tom Hanks from Cast Away, it should have served as the first sign of discord. He was upset and those sullen, bearded photos didn’t do much to help the team promote him and his fourth return to a somewhat-jaded fan base.

[Matt Moore - Pro Basketball Talk]

Arenas was never meant to lead, it turns out. Whether that’s a function of his knees, or his personality, or his game, or his leadership in and of itself or the inexplicable forces of nature, Arenas simply was not meant to be the star to take a team forward. So now he has to be a supporting character. All his quirks and eccentricities and innumerable basketball talents (or whatever is left of them), this is what his role has been reduced to, in his own words:

“If you have the open shot, take it. If not, pass to Dwight.”

[Mike Prada - Bullets Forever]

“We felt like this was a better opportunity for us to move forward” is a very striking phrase here.  In fact, Grunfeld used the word “opportunity” over and over again during the press conference.  There’s always the possibility that Grunfeld just really loves Rashard Lewis for some reason, but the thought of acquiring someone like Lewis can hardly be seen as an “opportunity” to a rational observer.  No, the real “opportunity” for Grunfeld was to get Arenas off the roster for anything.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• December 19, 2010 -- One Digestion of The Gilbert Arenas-Rashard Lewis Trade
• December 18, 2010 -- About Those Gilbert Arenas To Orlando Trade Rumors
• December 1, 2010 -- Wizards-Heat Play of the Game, and Gilbert Arenas To Orlando Trade Rumors

Before a trade even went down, and as legitimate rumors made their infiltration Friday night, I somewhat contemplated the departure of Gilbert Arenas from the Washington Wizards. It was vastly incomplete, but my point was that in D.C., Arenas will be remembered for both good and bad, but mostly for the good.

As the trade became official while I was scrambling to get to the Verizon Center for the Wizards-Heat game on late Saturday afternoon, I spurted off several reactions on Twitter, but I don’t consider them as being anywhere close to complete either. The departure of someone who was so ingrained into modern D.C. basketball culture, much less franchise history, is difficult to contemplate, especially so soon. Surely many, myself included, will digest Arenas’ tenure in Washington plenty in the future … and then regurgitate and digest again.

But until then, below is one digestive attempt I made on the trade after Ernie Grunfeld’s press conference, which was held just over 100 minutes before tip-off. I had the opportunity to write this for ESPN.com’s TrueHoop blog, where you’ll also find a brief analysis of both of Orlando’s blockbuster trades from respective Magic and Suns bloggers in the TrueHoop Network. So, check out what I have to say below and be sure and get the full picture at TrueHoop.

Mr. Opportunity

In his news conference regarding the trade, Wizards team president Ernie Grunfeld spoke of the opportunity that presented itself. “Opportunities don’t come along that often in the NBA,” Grunfeld said. He later countered with, “People in this league will always want talented players, and Gilbert is a talented player.” That “always” for Arenas was evidently a closing window Grunfeld had to jump through on Dec. 18, almost two months before the NBA’s trade deadline. So why the urgency?

“If you wait too long, something disappears, you might not have anything,” Grunfeld said when asked about the timing of this specific opportunity. The man in charge of rebuilding the Wizards according to Ted Leonsis’ plan earlier claimed that Orlando, “was the first team that aggressively wanted to make some changes.” As you can see, Grunfeld is hard to read. Opportunities evidently don’t always come up for players whose talent people will always want while Orlando was the first team that wanted to do something. Just a tad contradictory, I’d say.

But for Grunfeld, the exchange was all about his personal perfect storm. Moving on past the Gilbert Arenas saga? Check. Save a little money? Check to the tune of at least $24 million. Get a player presumed to be a better fit with John Wall as a stretch four who can open up the court? Check, theoretically.

Unfortunately in Lewis, Grunfeld adds another soft big man to a stable already with plenty to spare in that department (when the announced plan of the team has been to get tougher). He also further maligns a fan base already disenchanted with his seven-year tenure running the basketball operations of the team. Fans hoped for a return to the old Arenas, but seem content that it was time for him to go. But for now, as franchise savior John Wall misses his tenth of only 25 games on the year, only getting a slightly less bad contract for the bad contract of a fan favorite seems harder to sell than a consensus on health care in Congress.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• December 20, 2010 -- The Second Rebirth of Gilbert Arenas
• December 18, 2010 -- About Those Gilbert Arenas To Orlando Trade Rumors
• December 1, 2010 -- Wizards-Heat Play of the Game, and Gilbert Arenas To Orlando Trade Rumors

Before playing the juggernaut Miami Heat, Nick spoke fondly of his departed friend with the same maturity as the manner in which his game has progressed this season. Nick then stepped on the court, played his heart out on defense, and led his team with 30 points as the Wizards almost upset the Heat, but they blew the game in the closing seconds. How fitting.

I’ll let Mr. Young take it away…

Other reads from Truth About It:

• February 1, 2012 -- Gilbert Arenas To The Lakers? What Nick Young Thinks
• December 9, 2011 -- A Couple Washington Wizards Training Camp Musings
• October 11, 2011 -- ShareBullets/Poll: What To Make Of This NBA Lockout

Two initial thoughts upon hearing “strong” Gilbert Arenas trade rumors (via: Yahoo!, Orlando Pinstriped Post, Washington Post):

1) So what? If he’s traded, he’s traded. If he’s not, he’s not. Arenas has had a colorful past in D.C. that will always be remembered, mostly good … but it wouldn’t be colorful unless there’s some bad, and that will be remembered too.

Gilbert has come back relatively quietly this season (aside from emo acts, the fake knee injury, or shoe poop stories). Whether truly humbled, who knows, but he’s at least playing the part. The struggle with whether he should stay or go should now be released, regardless of if the rumors become true or not. People will surely struggle with how to remember him, many will dramatically paint broad pictures with broad brushes … just remember him.

It reminds me of a fight I once had with my girlfriend. It got pretty heated, and in a dead serious moment she looked up at me and said, “I hate to get all Mike Miller on you, but it is what it is.” And then the fight was pretty much over. I cracked up because she had the perfect way to break the tension, and get my attention, rending the conflict silly in the big picture. Then we moved on.

Otherwise, I know everyone would’ve liked to have that 2009 fifth overall pick and Ricky Rubio or Stephen Curry, but without Mike Miller, we wouldn’t have been able to add the absurdity of a repeated sports cliche as a way of moving on into the lexicon of this basketball franchise’s history and beyond. Thanks Mike Miller, thanks a lot.

2) Sounds like Orlando is taking to a lot of teams. Maybe Washington’s offer won’t be the best and Arenas will end up staying put. In that case, ignore what I wrote above, or at least file it away somewhere.

BUT…

For the hell of it, since playing hypothetical GM is fun, let’s fire up the ESPN Trade Machine…

WASHINGTON GETS:

Vince Carter (making $17.5 million this year, unguaranteed for next season — Wizards would likely buy Carter out, save a buck, let him go to the Knicks, screw up their chemistry)

Marcin Gortat (sure, he has 3-years, $21-plus million left on his contract after this year, but he’s the type of physical big body the Wizards need)

Jameer Nelson (essentially two more years, $15.6 million left with a player option in that second year (2012-13), but a point guard who can shoot … something the Wizards also need, considering who else I have Orlando receiving)

Mickael Pietrus (a player option for $5.3 million for next season … who knows what that means to him in a potential lockout environment, but not terrible for the Wizards since he’s a good player and defender at the wing)

A first round draft pick.

ORLANDO GETS:

Gilbert Arenas (3-years, $62.4 million left)

Kirk Hinrich ($8 million left after this season, which is less than the $9 million he’s making this season)

Josh Howard (expiring contract, $3 million base with incentives)

Yi Jianlian (making $4 million this season, can be an expiring contract via the qualifying offer)

It works in the ESPN Trade Machine, and that means absolutely nothing. I’d like to think I’d pull the trigger on this trade, but I’m clearly not thinking of all the angles, and likely am biased toward the Wizards (even though I think it’s fair … if Orlando really wants to take a risk and shake things up).

Disclaimers:

• Some Magic fan is saying hell no right now.
• Some Wizards fan is saying hell no right now.
• Orlando is receiving close to $3 million less in his scenario, but I’m sure they’ll want to save more money if possible … probably involve one of those simultaneous trades with a capologist consultant.
• Additional salary info: Sham Sports

Other reads from Truth About It:

• December 1, 2010 -- Wizards-Heat Play of the Game, and Gilbert Arenas To Orlando Trade Rumors
• November 28, 2010 -- Flip Saunders: ‘Well, we competed.’ – Encouraging Signs As Wizards Fall To Magic 100-99
• January 27, 2011 -- ShareBullets: Portraits Of A Young Team & Wizards Picture Leftovers