In the world of professional sports athletes, taking less money is almost unheard of. Increasingly, athletes are shedding the idea of “team first, me second” in exchange for something along the lines of “Me First, Me Second, Me Third”. So why this awkward paragraph musing the current condition of the athlete’s selfish persona? I’m glad you asked…
According to this blog posting, Gilbert Arenas has accepted a deal from the Washington Wizards that will pay him $111 Million dollars over 6 years. This deal is slightly less than the $127 Million over 6 years that he was offered by the Wiz. He is quoted in the blog saying, “What can I do for my family with $127 million that I can’t do with $111 million?” He continues, “We have another room to add a piece. There is a window of opportunity open for us. Adding key pieces leads to championships and that’s what we all want.”
My response…Relief, then indignation. Perhaps indignation is too strong of a word, but I am rather frustrated that in his view, taking $16 Million less over 6 years could possible help us add any “key pieces” as he says. That leaves us with an extra $2.6 Million per year to sign additional players. Perhaps I am a pessimist, but I don’t think that an extra $2.6 Million per year is going to allow us the financial flexibility to add anything significant. It should also be considered that his contract is for more money than the contract that MVP runner up Chris Paul just received from the Hornets.
I am happy that we are keeping Agent Zero. Before this past season where he was injured the whole time, Gilbert was one of the most dangerous offensive players in the league. In addition, he is a fan’s player. He knows and understands the psyche of the typical sports fan and has done loads to connect to fans, from his blogging activities on NBA.com, buying shirts for everyone in attendance at home games, jumping off a trampoline and dunking during the NBA All-Star Game, and of course, all the other wackiness that has become affectionately known as “Gilbertology“. In addition, he has been an extremely hard worker, often staying at the gym until all hours of the night to work on his shooting. He is an easy player to like.
But I feel like I’ve forgotten all this stuff. Right now, in my head, Gilbert is coming off of two knee surgerys, hasn’t been healthy in 12-months, and the Wiz just had a semi-successful season without him. The Washington DC area has been mulling whether or not we were better without him. It could be argued that the Wiz play more cohesively without him. Our defense was drastically improved without him on the floor. Gilbert is a shoot first point guard. In essence, he tends to personify the idea of the selfish athlete.
The worst part is that he acts like he is doing us and the team a favor by taking less money. OK, he IS doing us a favor. But I don’t think he should make a big deal about taking less money, because he did not help us that much.
I love Gilbert. I used to have a “man-crush” on him. I am glad we got him back. I think we can get past the 1st round of the playoffs if we have ever have a healthy team. Championships are another story. I’ll hope for one, but I certainly won’t expect one.
In other Wizards news….The Wizards are probably now going to shift their attention to trying to sign James Posey of the Celtics (I think this would be an AWESOME addition). Roger Mason is also a free agent, although the Wizards already have a lot of players at the guard position, and Mason may be looking for a bigger role. He has drawn interest from the New Jersey Nets (soon to be the “Brooklyn Nets” (soon to be known as “the Team Lebron James plays for”)).
