Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards is in serious trouble. In case you haven't heard, Arenas was recently accused of pulling a gun out on his teammate, Javaris Crittenton, in an incident that is virtually unprecedented in NBA history. I hope that Gilbert didn't do this, but if he did, his career might come to an end. Here are three quick things for Gilbert (and the rest of us) to think about:
1) You are never too big to fail: In the event that Gilbert Arenas did indeed pull that gun out on his teammate, it is likely due to some kind of arrogance. Some athletes get to the point where the money and the power come so easily that they truly believe that they can't ever come down. Tiger Woods may have also been a victim of such arrogance, and now we are watching his position as America's golden boy slowly dismantle itself. Let's hope that Arenas isn't possessed by the same demon of overconfidence.
2) Every year, some black male athlete is made into public enemy No. 1: Whether you are talking about Tiger Woods, Ron Artest, Lattrell Sprewell, Barry Bonds, Randy Moss or Michael Vick, there is usually at least one black male athlete every year who is thrust out to America as public enemy No. 1. The man is not judged by his talent and work ethic; instead, he is maligned for having "poor character" in a nation that doesn't understand that it has a history of seeing black men as being less than human and less intelligent than the rest of the country. It looks like Arenas might be the next one on the list, so it'll be interesting to see the judgmental commentary that follows.
3) David Stern runs a tight ship: While Gilbert Arenas may have been getting "gangsta" by pulling that gun out on Javaris Crittenton, Arenas will never be nearly as "gangsta" as NBA commissioner David Stern. David Stern runs one of the tightest ships in all of sports, and I personally feel that he goes out of his way to constrain the players in a way that sickens me. The point is, though, that David Stern will never allow any one player to derail his quest to make the NBA into a global super power, so don't be surprised if Gilbert Arenas finds himself on the sidelines very soon. This kind of behavior is simply not going to be tolerated, and on this point, I would be in complete agreement with the commissioner.
I wish Gilbert Arenas the best, and I hope he didn't pull the gun out on his teammate. If he did, there is going to be hell to pay, and there's nothing he can do about it.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
Comments: (10)
Add a comment
By: Pat McDonald on 1/02/2010 7:58PM
It's scary that Dr. Boyce Watkins is a professor at any University in this country. His comment "every year, some black male athlete is made into public enemy number one" is a comment from a man who does not have an open mind. "The man is not judged by his talent and work ethic". With this line of thinking we should admire Bernie Madoff for his genius instead of bashing him for his greed. There is no doubt that O.J. Simpson was one of the most talented athletes ever to put on a uniform but I don't think that the color of his skin has anything to do with the hatred that America has for that man. I do believe that the press jumps hard on any athlete that makes a mistake, heck they even beat up Brett Favre for the simple fact that he chose to continue to play the game he loves, and is well compensated for by the way. I do not mean to lump Gilbert Arenas in with a man who is suspected of a double homicide but Mr. Arenas made a poor judgement decision and that decision will have consequences in future punishment and in his lessened public perception. Comments like Dr. Watkins' moves all of us back about 25 years.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: mzztlove on 1/06/2010 1:44PM
This Good Dr. Seems to be nothing more then a fortune or opportunist. Everything he writes he interjects his self as if somehow the story he is trying to share has something to do with him! The good Dr. I think should stick to the job of teaching if that is what he does, because everytime I read something he writes it just leaves me smh, at the thought someone is actually giving him space to write... Go away and black voices surely you can use this space for something more meaningful then this downlow brotha perping as a Dr. who somehow believes he's a columist...lol
Report This
By: mike on 1/03/2010 4:47PM
I am very surprised Dr. Boyce even commented on this story, and as always he targets the white media, and trys to put some type of blame on the media and David Stern.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: john on 1/03/2010 1:25PM
I wonder how Dr W ever got his Phd in Finance since finance is such an analytical, unbiased and detailed subject and Dr W blogs seems so ridiculous biased and sounds like a man with no education or is a racial ambulance chaser like jessee or sharpton.
I quit watching NBA years ago due to all to the criminal elements like Arenas. If I want to watch folks with tattoos, I watch X games or surfing who are as athletic without all of the criminal and rap elements associated with it.l
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: overbrook on 1/05/2010 7:52AM
Yup.....there goes the race card again....thrown by someone who would do his culture much better by keeping his pie hole shut! Does this fool really think that "people of color" should be allowed to commit felonies just because they have dark skin...or does he think that we should just turn the other cheek. I think what the good Dr. is really upset about is that it always seems to be a person of color getting caught up in these fiasco's.... but is that white America's fault that they tend to have more common sense? If black atheletes would stop acting like idiots....they'd stop getting treated like idiots......it's really that simple Dr.!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: David on 1/06/2010 12:11AM
I don't know the race of the people commenting but I get the impression their are more white people commenting on Blackvoices than blacks now.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Shaun on 1/07/2010 8:53AM
This guys a joke.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: B on 1/07/2010 9:01AM
Public enemy number one?
Excuse me but 99% of the NBA players ARE black.
You're an idiot!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: sharkchops on 1/07/2010 7:23PM
Come on already, Doc. All those athletes did this to themselves by breaking the law or committing acts that demonize them. Yes, they're demonized even more by the media because they're black but why give the media ammunition to hang you? Tiger should have stayed faithful or not gotten married at all. What do you think happens when you're one of the biggest public figures in the world and your caught cheating with whores and porn stars for money? Artest and Sprewell should have kept their violence in check. Bonds knew he was cheating all that time he was on his way to breaking the baseball record. If Vick had only been cited for allowing the dogs to fight, he'd be in less trouble but he had to take it further and kill and abuse them. These are all conscious efforts by people who knew better but obviously didn't care and thought they're notoriety and money was bigger than their race. They made themselves public enemy number one.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: ag on 2/04/2010 11:25AM
The part about america wanting to make a black athlete enemy number one is a bit much. Other than Randy Moss I honestly feel each of those guys earned their bad press and would have gotten it if they where white. I think it would be a big deal if a white player set records using steroids, strangled his coach at practice, started the worst brawl in history during an NBA game, Or were involved in a dog fighting ring, or pulled a gun on a teamate. I will be honest they were too hard on Vick and I will always be a fan of his. The Tiger thing was overboard but I chalk that up to our nation's obsesion with sex. Also I might add I am ashamed that some idiot used this instance for a reason to start an all white basketball league. One Love guys.
Reply to this Comment | Report This