(IF you find this blog post a bit rambly and unfocused, it was not that I was up too late while still hungover from a work trip, it was a nod towards Gil's wonderful and ramblin' blog on NBA.com, that the NBA hasn't pulled yet, shockingly. Or at least that is the excuse I am sticking with.)
Until Agent Zero returns I refuse to watch the NBA (live). Oh sure, I wasn't watching much anyway, due to the fact that I don't have Altitude out here and hate several of the marquee players and fans with a smoldering passion, and I am just one man, but what the NBA, aka Stern, did to Gil isn't right. And the Wizards trying to run him off is even worse.
It is well known that Gil is my favorite NBA player. I love him and I refuse to let a little gun possession sway my man-crush. I mean, I live in a state that voted the Terminator in as governor, I think it is clear this country is gun-obsessed. What is worse, starring in tons of movies that glorify violence or telling someone to shoot you in the knee? BUT IT WAS IN AN NBA ARENA.
If Delonte West isn't suspended for his gun-possession and reckless behavior, I don't understand why Gilbert is. The man made a stupid mistake. He should be suspended eventually, probably for about 15-20 games, for that stupidity, and he might have some jail time, but banning him mostly because of his jokes is childish.
Basically the NBA suspended Gil for laughing about the situation. That is how he handles everything. He never threatened anyone, despite Peter Vescey's godawful and incorrect story, so he used Twitter and his fingerpistols dance to lighten the mood and reinforce the fact that he isn't a "gun-toting thug," as he was painted by some in the media. Everyone in that huddle has a look of unbridled joy on their face, they know that Gil isn't really a threat.
It has been argued that Gil had to be suspended because he didn't express regret and was joking about it, but some people handle regret by making jokes. I am one of those people. I can laugh at failure. I hate failure, I hate when I make mistakes, but to get over I would rather laugh it away than cry or feel miserable. The laughter is a coping mechanism. Sorry if that offends people, but I would rather have an athlete be able to laugh at their mistake than have them play the PR game with contrived press conferences and or run away to hide like Tiger.
But image conscious David Stern doesn't like people to make jokes. Still over-correcting from the Brawl in the Palace, Stern is an old, white guy who thinks that white America hates basketball because it is played by young, black men. If someone is that closed-minded that they won't watch a sport because of the race of the players then you aren't winning them over, no matter what.
Quit trying to take the hip-hop and the edge out of the league, to appeal to white folks. I don't love to watch the NBA because of guys like Tim Duncan. Yes, he is a great basketball player, but Arenas connected with me as a fan. I would pay to see him play. He is not only very talented, but he has a sense of humor that the NBA loved, until it went to far once, and then they cut him off and have basically kicked him to the curb.
Just like when Melo got 15 games for slapping someone and Nate Robison got only ten when he started the whole brawl, Stern makes no sense. Fuck that fucking guy.
Gil was the one NBA player who always said what was on his mind, why would he change now? It is the way he deals with stress, he laughs it off. His Twitter account was the most entertaining I have ever seen, even if it only lasted for three days. You shouldn't take a man's livelihood away because of a joke.
There are a ton of NBA players who have done worse, and they saw little to no punishment, but Gilbert is unfit to play because he isn't PC? That makes no sense. Ruben Patterson is a fucking registered sex offender but he gets to play again. I already mentioned D-West. JR killed a guy. Todd Bertuzzi gets to play hockey after paralyzing a guy. Shit, is this country so reactive that we will throw Gil out of the league for putting himself in danger.
If the NBA even gave a timetable for the suspension I could see it, but just an indefinite suspension. That just makes it tough for unstable people like Gil and myself to deal with.
And the Wizards organization is the worst. They made a mistake signing Gil's huge contract, but now they are using this opportunity to try to cut their losses. Ernie Grunfeld handed Gil too much money and, in order to save his job, now is trying to save his own ass by cutting Gil loose after ratting him out to the league office. The organization then got rid of everything Gil, taking down pictures and editing him out of pregame videos. This is all based on the moral high ground that recently deceased Abe Pollin hated guns (why he changed the name from Bullets to the uber-gay Wizards). But the Wiz still sell Bullets merchandise and obviously weren't super anti-gun, as two players on the team felt comfortable taking them into the locker room.
The NBA has a gun culture. Tons of players have been robbed. Shit, Gil plays in the same city where Sean Taylor played, I think he might know the danger being a rich celebrity has. He isn't the first, nor will he be the last NBA player who brings a gun to the arena. I guarantee you that many of them carry, and Devin Harris' 75% statement is probably true. So will they make an example out of Gil because this story was sensationalized? I guess they are.
And until I have my Gilbert back I won't be watching any NBA games live. Or until I forget about this pledge the next time the Nuggets are on TNT.
Bonus Prediction:
When Gil gets back in the league, and I say when, not if, he is going to fucking kill the league. He has always had an edge and has punished teams for screwing him over, and maybe his huge contract took off that edge and made him feel bulletproof (pun intended), but no one wants to play an angry Agent Zero, I can tell you that.
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