NBA commissioner David Stern is wrong. Flat-out 100 percent as wrong as it gets. And it enrages me.
Stern advised Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas not to discuss his gun conviction when meeting the media for the first time on Monday. Stern feels there’s nothing to gain by rehashing the crime that caused Arenas’ imprisonment and a 50-game suspension.
This is insane.
Sports has always been the flash point of societal conduct discussion since heavyweight champion Jack Johnson’s 1918 Mann Act conviction as an obvious persecution of a black man for marrying a white woman. To abandon a needed discussion over guns in our society because it’s uncomfortable is inexcusable.
There is everything to gain by Arenas discussing why it was wrong to wave a gun in the Wizards locker room at teammate Javaris Crittenton on Dec. 21. I’m not talking about some brief statement of contrition, but an open discussion so children who idolize pro athletes understand guns aren’t the way to resolve problems.
Maybe there won’t be a repeat of the March 29 slaying of four young people gunned down on a District street corner over a bracelet. Eighty-eight people have been murdered in the city this year while 1,527 guns were seized by Metropolitan Police. Should we talk about it?
Stern says he’s worried about Arenas’ psyche, but the former Agent Zero is an adult. He’s not the one begging off. Arenas will surely discuss this at some point because it’s in his nature to talk about things, sometimes to extreme that merits Stern’s concern.
But let’s be honest — Stern’s decision is more over saving the NBA from yet another public relations crisis that happens all too often. It’s about money in the end. And I’m not ready to trade money for our children’s future.
Too many children grow up without a father figure in their lives. They look for teachers, coaches and athletes to fill that void. Maybe it’s an unfair burden on athletes to help role model for America’s youth, but that’s part of the reason for earning millions of dollars.
I have no problem with Arenas returning to the Wizards. After serving his prison sentence, Arenas is entitled to resume his career. Throw in millions of dollars in lost endorsements plus public shame and Arenas has endured more than the average person committing the same offense.
But there should be one accounting — the first real accounting — of what he did and why it was wrong. Maybe one life will be saved from it.
And then we can move on to basketball. To how Arenas hopes to return to All-Star status. How he’ll work with incoming star John Wall. Whether an underperforming franchise that is nearly rebuilt will contend this season.
But preemptive white washing is wrong. Too many political and business leaders want Americans to wear blinders to our problems. Not this time. It just takes a small measure of courage to do so.
After all, the shame has shifted from Arenas. It’s now on David Stern.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail rsnider@ washingtonexaminer.com.
