As expected, suspended Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas copped a plea to a single firearms charge, and will return to Washington Superior Court for sentencing on March 26.
More importantly, this decision by Gilbert will allow three very important events to unfold:
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Arenas’ contract: His guilty plea frees up the Wizards organization to begin taking steps to void out the remainder of Arenas’ colossal $111 million. According to TMZ.com, Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfield texted Arenas shortly after the alleged gun standoff in the locker to inform Arenas that he was in violation of his contract. As a result, the publication says, the “team could void his contract as a result.”
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Suspension: We will now learn the extent to which NBA Commissioner David Stern will lower the boom on Arenas’ head. NBA pundits and insiders suggest the sanctions will be extremely severe. First, Arenas violated a collective bargaining agreement barring firearms on NBA property or at NBA-related events. Secondly, Stern reportedly became incensed when Arenas trivialized and mocked the severity of the situation by pantomiming gunplay as the Wizards huddled during a game. Stern, who suspended Arenas indefinitely pending the legal outcome of the case, was originally going to wait until after the legal case concluded to suspend Arenas. He said he could not wait because Arenas continued to joke with reporters and via texts about the locker room standoff. The latter two incidents will undoubtedly increase whatever penalty Stern would have originally levied against the goofy guard.
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Possible jail time: Arenas’ attorney, Kenneth Wainstein, told reporters that in exchange for Arenas’ plea, prosecutors agreed not to seek a sentence longer than the low end of the sentencing guidelines. That means Arenas could be sentenced to less than six months behind bars, if he receives any time at all. –terry shropshire
