Ted Leonsis will be the next owner of the Washington Wizards, which puts him in a unique position to dictate the course of Gilbert Arenas’ career. If Leonsis wanted, he could banish Arenas a la Stephon Marbury. He could try his damnedest to keep Gil away from his team until Ernie Grunfeld could find a way to move him. Leonsis could stick Arenas in the closet and try to move on by putting the face of the turmoil out of sight and hopefully, out of mind.
But those options seem a bit ridiculous with Gil. The tales of real guns and finger guns and “Pick one,” and cover-ups are too complicated for their own good, but even though Arenas has made some really horrible decisions over the last few months, nothing he did deserves banishment. Especially not when the Wizards are going to be stuck with his contract one way or another, as few owners would willingly take on Gil’s deal with a new CBA right around the corner.
Leonsis gets that, or at the very least gets that Arenas’ transgressions aren’t worthy of vilification, and that his banishment would accomplish little aside from its symbolism. Maybe what everyone needs in this case — especially Gil — is a hug. From Dan Steinberg of the Washington Posts’ DC Sports Bog:
And so Leonsis chatted with Comcast SportsNet’s Russ Thaler on
Thursday, and offered I believe his first specific comments about
Gilbert Arenas’s future.
“I know Gilbert a little bit from seeing him in the hallways and
talking to him,” Leonsis said, when asked what he would say to Arenas.
“He’s always been a very, very sweet kid. I like him. And I believe in
the best in people. And so I don’t think I’ll say much. I want to get
to know him, but you need to do it in a way that’s respectful of the
hierarchy.…”And I do want to look Gilbert in the eye and see what makes him
tick and understand what he’s thinking. I’ll probably give him a hug,
and we’ll kill a couple of aliens with some video games and get to know
each other. You have to empathize with people and understand them and
what makes them tick, but his boss is Flip and Flip decides what system
and how he plays. And I’ll never get in the way of that relationship.”
I suppose nothing is certain as of yet, but it appears as though Leonsis may give Arenas an open door. It’s his call as the man paying the bills, and while it’s not exactly optimal for Washington to start next season with Gilbert’s baggage, the Wizards reboot will likely include Arenas.
