John Wall is the new cornerstone of the Washington Wizards — the No. 1 pick who is supposed to save the franchise.
But as long as Gilbert Arenas is around it’s still his team — period.
As the Wizards open the season at Orlando on Thursday, Arenas will remain the center of attention — even though he’ll miss the game with a strained tendon in his right ankle. He already created a preseason commotion by lying about his sore knee so Nick Young could play. That brought a fine and further distanced himself from coach Flip Saunders, who admitted he was hurt that Arenas lied to him.
It’s hard to believe Arenas could further damage his reputation after last season. After being convicted and punished for bringing a gun into the Verizon Center locker room — which also brought a 50-game suspension — Arenas concedes he’s messing up again because of immaturity. This from a 28-year-old with three children.
The Wizards can pretend Wall is their centerpiece and hang all the banners they want from Chinatown to Chantilly, but Arenas is that person who’s the center of any party.
This will be Arenas’ team until he finally does something that forces owner Ted Leonsis to eat the contract and send the guard away. Whether that’s this season or next, the day is coming.
Meanwhile, Arenas is still a pretty good player. Maybe still better than Wall right now. Of course, that’s only if Arenas’ latest injury isn’t a harbinger of another busted season.
Arenas will take the last shot in games, not Wall. The rookie is smart enough to know his time as team leader will come eventually. Wall just needs to wait until Arenas is ready to relinquish his top gun role. Some older players never relinquish the spotlight, though. Ask Brett Favre. Arenas doesn’t figure to go quietly.
If Wall is as good as projected and Arenas starts feeling the age of someone with a blown-out knee still grateful to be playing, then their roles will reverse. The Wizards truly wish Arenas would become the team elder and help grow Wall into the superstar Arenas hinted of becoming. But that would require more maturity than that of someone who lied to his coach so a teammate could play more.
The Wizards are a fringe playoff team. Two star players, if they can work together, may lead the team to the final postseason slot. That would be a good season after two abysmal years. It would show enough growth to encourage a patient fan base to return.
But that’s the upside should Arenas cooperate, and there’s no way of knowing what’s going to happen. It makes things interesting, but even more interesting would be simply winning.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
