I was seriously impressed by Gilbert Arena’s latest blog post, “Let’s Talk About Family”….perhaps more so than anything he’s done off the court before (not factoring in silly things like Halo tournaments, but rather helping Katrina victims, Scoring for Schools, his Zero to Hero Foundation, or just befriending random kids).

I enjoyed Gilbert’s candidness on family, especially his mother. Honesty like that on a widespread stage is rare for a regular person, much less a star athlete…..this much we know about Arenas. Overall, quite a refreshing account that by far overshadows negative aspects of immaturity for which I’ve criticized Arenas in the past.

Arenas’ discussion of his mother certainly garnered its share of attention from the usual suspects: The DC Sports Bog, True Hoop, Ball Don’t Lie, Gilbertology. But for some reason, what caught my attention the most was Gil’s blogging his relationship with Antawn Jamison, which started in Golden State and continues here in DC today.

“We didn’t really start connecting connecting until he got back here to Washington because back then I was just young and I was feeling my way and once he came from Dallas he was an all-around player because he got his 3-pointer going and I got smarter about the stuff I did. I was still young and still going, but I started getting smarter and I realized, “Man, if I’m going to do this, it’s going to be with him.”

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photo from washingtonwizards.com

Ok, so Jamison isn’t exactly chewing on a straw a la Tuff Juice in the photo above….it appears to be a mouth piece. But it’s safe to say, the team better be following the actions and listening to the words of the guy with a teeth-marked plastic straw in his mouth.

The Pradamaster already did a Wizards link dump over at Bullets Forever. Now, I’d like to get in on the action with some linkage diarrhea…..gotta give good content across the world wide web its proper due…..not that the below links are bad like the collywobbles, but they sure are juicy.

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Speaking of Tuff Juice, Tom Knott has a column about the guy, “Wizards getting more than they bargained,” at The Washington Times. Read more »

photo from nba.com/wizards

Silly, zany, wacky…..all terms used to describe Washington Wizards media day. Laptops are even blowing up because of it.

>> DeShawn Stevenson is swagger jacking Lil’ Wayne and claiming originality…..Lemme guess, Stevenson’s next wrist band will say, “Misunderstood ain’t gotta be explained,” or perhaps “Bling, Bling.” (Just go listen to ‘DontGetIt’ (some call it ‘Misunderstood’) on Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III – or just check the lyrics here.)

>> The key part of the body is the wrist:
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Back in the saddle with only a couple ’07-08 Washington Wizards evaluations to go (Caron Butler and Eddie Jordan). My take on Antawn Jamison’s season is below, head over to Bullets Forever to see what the Pradamaster and JakeTheSnake have to say.

Previous Entries:
Etan Thomas | Oleksiy Pecherov | Dominic McGuire | Nick Young | Andray Blatche | Roger Mason |
Darius Songaila | Antonio Daniels | DeShawn Stevenson | Brendan Haywood | Gilbert Arenas

The 2007-08 season was unquestionably Antawn Jamison’s best as a Wizard. He stayed healthy when others could not, appearing and starting in 79 games while playing more minutes (3,060) than anyone on the team, almost 500 more minutes than runner-up DeShawn Stevenson. All this burn for the second oldest Washington Wizard, who would’ve thunk?

At times, I’ve tried to refer to Jamison as “The Gentlemen,” but for the Wiz, he’s “Mr. Everything.” AJ led the team in points scored and points per game (21.4), was second in steals (106), first in total rebounds and per game (10.2, also good for 10th in the NBA), and third in three-pointers made (120).

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As Wizards/Bullets fans should be well aware, the DC NBA franchise has had many connections with former UNC Tar Heels. Currently, Brendan Haywood, Antawn Jamison, and associate head coach, Mike O’Koren (who also played for the Bullets in 86-87) represent the University of North Carolina connection.

Past members of the Wiz-Heel club include (years with Wiz/Bullets in parens): Rasheed Wallace (95-96), Jerry Stackhouse (02-04), Hubert Davis (00-02), Mitch Kupchak (76-81), Dudley Bradley (84-86), Jeff McInnis (98-99), and of course, Michael Jordan (01-03).

So, when the good folks at The Fifth Corner, a UNC Tar Heel blog, asked me to answer some questions about the Wizards and the current Tar Heels with the team, I gladly obliged. My answers are below, the Pradamaster of Bullets Forever got interviewed by The Fifth Corner as well.

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Question #1: Being a Washington Wizards blogger, did you believe that the team was going to re-sign Antawn Jamison all along, or did you believe he might leave for another team?

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Normally, Gilbert Arenas might be the last, but not the least, Washington Wizard to be evaluated. But that’s not the case this year…..Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison formed an alpha dog duo this past season. My thoughts on Agent Zero are below, head over to Bullets Forever (coming soon) to check out what the Pradamaster and Jake The Snake have to say.

Previous Entries:
Etan Thomas | Oleksiy Pecherov | Dominic McGuire | Nick Young | Andray Blatche | Roger Mason |
Darius Songaila | Antonio Daniels | DeShawn Stevenson | Brendan Haywood

This past season provided me, along with others, a lion’s share of negative thoughts about Gilbert Arenas. Unfortunately, many of those others allowed such ideas to consume the previous good will built by Agent Zero to the point where they no longer wanted Gilbert on their team. I will not allow myself to forget what I’ve learned from the past.

For one, I’m a believer in Gilbert Arenas. He came from humble beginnings and has successfully overcome every real and perceived slight handed down upon him. I remember seeing Gilbert Arenas play live in college from the opponent’s end of the court way back in December of 2000. That day, Mississippi State defeated 10th-ranked Arizona, in Tuscon, in ‘Zona’s own Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic tournament, for the first time in its 16 year history. That Wildcat team featured the likes of Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Jason Gardner, Loren Woods, Luke Walton, Eugene “High Socks & ‘Fro” Edgerson, and team leading scorer, Michael Wright. Gilbert dropped 14 points, but I barely remember him being on the court……he surely didn’t live up to scouting report expectations. Gilbert Arenas? Who’s that dude? Lo and behold…..almost seven years later…….I’m writing blog letters to the guy.

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Gentleman Jamison securing his Wizards legacy?

Isn’t the information age amazing? Faster…..less clicks…..aggregators…..email updates…..knowledge is flying in front of our eyes like the bugs surrounding stadium lights. One way or another, we are all receptors of the information dissemination. But where does the information come from, and how does it vary so much?

EuroBasket may or may have not given us the impression that Spiros Vondas and the Greeks were after Antawn Jamison. Then, around 85% of Wizards fans on Bullets Forever believed that there was a 70% or greater chance that Jamison would be back with the Wiz. Seemed like the sensible move…..some even have said yes to Jamison and no to Arenas. AJ is that important.

Then came the eve of NBA free agency. Mike Jones of the Washington Times started at 1:55 pm reporting that Jamison would get a 4-year deal averaging $11 million per season ($44 total). The Washington Post’s Ivan Carter got in on the action around 4:42 pm; his sources said Jamison was close to reaching a 4-year, $48 million deal. ESPN’s Mark Stein was in on the game too, outlining plans for a 4-year, $50 million contract. The Times and the Post quickly followed suit with $50 million updates.

However, Ivan Carter’s update on Wizards Insider said: Read more »

Every time I hear the word ‘constancy’ I think of that Simpsons episode where Reverend Lovejoy lost enthusiasm for his trade….his droning voice uttering constancy, slowly and painfully, over and over again. It’s funny that a cartoon could lead me to have such a negative connotation of a word.

But is constancy such a bad word? Some cases yes, some cases no. There’s a lot to be said about dependability…..constancy is the main reason why chain restaurants are so popular. On the other hand, it’s life’s diversions which can make us well rounded people, as long as we don’t get too high or low before it’s all said and done.

Obviously, we can find similar principles in basketball. Veterans know not to get too emotionally high or low before a game, a series, a season has been completed. Only then can one set aside the time to get through the depths of celebration and/or reflection.

As I glossed over HoopsHype today, the rumors were rampant as expected. Next to the trade deadline, the NBA draft has become as much of a culmination of trade fodder as it is a stage of kids hoping to making it to the next level. But as I read, I became more thankful of the current path of the Washington Wizards…..working under a ‘status quo’ assumption of course.

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This is the second installment of a four-part series assessing the future of the Washington Wizards. Part one focused on the current player contract situation. Part two keys in on the free agency of Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas.

Washington Wizards Future Part II: The Assumptions

Assumption #1: Antawn Jamison will be back….because without him, you lose Gilbert Arenas, right?. Evidently, AJ the Gentleman is willing to play for about $10 million per, but for how long? I would say four years is reasonable, but three would be ideal….putting the termination of Jamison’s contract in line with the end of Caron Butler’s, as well as Songaila’s opt-out year and Stevenson’s player-choice. Those three would equate to just under $20 million of available space. Add AJ into the mix and Washington would have more than enough money to re-sign Butler and do some dabbling in the free-agent market heading into the 2011-2012 season.

Back to Jamison….it’s been theoretically assumed that he and Gilbert would simply switch salaries, giving Antawn a contract worth close to the aforementioned $10 million per year. Could the Wizards afford to tack on an extra $2 million to keep AJ’s contract at 3 years? I’ll assume yes, which would also allow Jamison to go championship chasing at the ripe age of 35. So, a 3-year, $32 million dollar contract could estimate to spread out like this: YR1: $9.75, YR2: $10.676, YR3: $11.69 (9.5% yearly increases, the max is 10.5%).

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Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

[note: this game blog also appears on Bullets Forever]

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