Wizards players Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee were suspended for Sunday’s game against San Antonio because of an altercation the two had outside a District night club.
“After further investigation into an incident on Thursday night, we concluded that Andray and JaVale conducted themselves in an unprofessional manner,” general manager Ernie Grunfeld declared in a statement.
However, it is worth noting that they did conduct themselves in a very Wizards-like manner.
This so-called altercation — a breakdown in team chemistry, obviously — is startling evidence that the Wizards have a leadership void that we failed to recognize.
It’s clear the locker room misses the direction of Gilbert Arenas.
We didn’t realize it until he was traded to Orlando two weeks ago, but it should have been obvious to us — a team built with misfits and mistakes would take its disciplinary direction from a Hall of Fame misfit like Arenas.
Blatche, who has Arenas-like potential, was clearly held in check by Arenas.
Remember during the guns-in-the-locker-room controversy, when the Washington Post reported Arenas defecated in Blatche’s sneaker? Arenas offered this explanation this year to SI.com: “I understand what people think because of the perception of me. They read the funny stuff, like me taking a crap in [teammate] Andray Blatche’s shoes. But nobody is going to ask what Andray did to deserve it.”
So this was clearly Arenas’ way of disciplining Blatche for some act Blatche had committed. Now, with Arenas gone and Blatche free of the fear of finding an unwelcome present in his shoes, he feels empowered to explore his knucklehead potential both on and off the court — from the blown layup on the court last week to the street fight with a teammate.
This is a guy who Grunfeld signed to a five-year, $35 million contract extension earlier this year. A guy who has not done squat in the NBA during the
five-plus years he has played in the league. A guy who last March was benched briefly by coach Flip Saunders because Blatche said he didn’t want to play after being criticized by the coach for not playing defense.
“In my 15 years [of coaching], I’ve never seen anything like it,” Saunders told reporters. “I’m more disappointed in him that I’ve ever been with a player in my coaching career.”
Yet Blatche was back playing the next game.
And so, of course, another learning experience in the development of the 24-year-old Blatche — added to his 2007 arrest in the District after allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover police officer and his 2008 arrest in Virginia on charges of reckless driving and driving on a suspended license for the third time.
You invest any money in a player like this, you deserve whatever winds up in your shoes.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
