Wizards' Gilbert Arenas receives sentence for gun incident

On Friday, Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas received his sentencing for December 2009's gun incident in the locker room. According to the sentence handed out by DC Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin, Arenas will serve one month in a halfway house, perform 400 hours of community service and pay a $5,000 fine.

The gun incident occurred in the Verizon Center locker room back on December 21. A dispute had arisen between Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton over a gambling debt worth just a few hundred dollars. Arenas brought several handguns into the team's locker room, laid them out near Javaris' locker along with a sign that said "PICK 1".

Due to the incident, Arenas was suspended by the league for the entire season to set a strong precedent for this situation. At his sentencing, Arenas apologized and said he wakes up daily wishing this never happened. In another recent pro sports gun incident, NFL star Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants was carrying an illegal firearm in his pants, when the gun went off and shot him in the leg. The NFL wide receiver was sentenced to 2 years in prison due to NY's gun laws. Some people, including the prosecutors in the Arenas case feel he got off lightly, avoiding any major jail time.

Read more about Arenas' sentencing here at ESPN.com

Cavs get Jamison & Celts Knicks Nate Robinson trade

Two teams who made moves on Wednesday were the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston's move which was rumored earlier Wednesday afternoon has the Celtics sending Eddie House to the New York Knicks in exchange for the 2010 Slam Dunk champion Nate Robinson. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers didn't get Ama're Stoudemire as they'd initially hoped, but most likely got the second best option available in terms of a versatile power forward, with Antawn Jamison. The Jamison trade is a 3-team affair which involves the LA Clippers in addition to the Cavs and Wizards.

For the Antawn Jamison deal, Cleveland will also pick up guard Sebastian Telfair. The Clippers get Drew Gooden, while the Wizards receive Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Al Thornton, Brian Skinner and a Cavs first-round pick.

The Celtics trade is a bit peculiar as Boston is looking to be a serious competitor in the 2010 Playoffs and return to their glory of two years ago with a trip to the Finals. Eddie House was an integral part in their championship team providing scoring ability from off the bench. It's possible the trade for Robinson could be part of a multi-team deal which also involves Ray Allen or other members of the team. The Wizards appear to be in complete rebuild mode now after trading away Caron Butler to the Dallas Mavericks and now Antawn Jamison. Their only legit superstar remaining is Gilbert Arenas who is currently suspended for the remainder of the season due to the gunplay incident involving teammate Javaris Crittendon. It's questionable if the Wizards will hold onto Arenas following his suspensions or seek to free up more salary space.

With the NBA trade deadline looming for Thursday, Ama're Stoudemire is still the big name out there that several teams are looking to acquire. Stay tuned!

Playoff Trash Talkers Never Win

Talk is cheap in these 2007-08 NBA Playoffs. Mike Bibby was the latest to learn this lesson the hard way on Wednesday night in Boston. Bibby decided to make comments that called the Celtics fans "fairweather fans" and said he remembered them wearing bags over their heads when he played there last year with Sacramento. Bibby's comments were in reference to last year's lackluster season for the Celtics. Unfortunately when you talk bad in Boston, the fans let you know it. Bibby was loudly booed every time he touched the ball during Wednesday's game. The result was another poor performance for Bibby and a bigtime win in Game 2 for the Celts.

The Wizards are also learning this lesson the hard way. Gilbert Arenas stated before their series against the Cavs that it would be hard for a team to beat them 3 straight years in the playoffs. Gil also said this year's Cavs team just wasn't as good as last year's. Then his teammate Deshawn Stevenson decided to get into it by calling out King James himself, saying Lebron is overrated. And Lebron and the Cavs have responded with a win in game 1, followed by a convincing Game 2 win to go up two games to nada.

The last case for trash talkers never winning in the playoffs is Dirk Nowitzki. While Dirk didn't exactly call Chris Paul overrated or say New Orleans isn't good, he said this was the team they'd rather play. Dirk said he was glad they didn't have the Lakers first round since they're on such a hot streak, and also said the Mavs would match up with the Hornets better. Well as NBA nation can see, Dallas hasn't matched up well against New Orleans either.

Talk is cheap, and it goes to show that the guys making the real statements are the players doing so by scoring points, playing well and winning playoff games.

Soulja Boy Marv Cranks Dat

A Marv Albert-Soulja Boy Mashup?

In case you missed it, the whole fiasco started when the Wizards decided to start trash talking before they even set foot in Cleveland for Game 1. First, Gilbert Arenas, aka "Agent 0" decided to say there's no way Cleveland could beat them 3 straight playoffs and that this year's team wasn't as good as before. Then, DeShawn Stevenson who has no real credentials other than being associated with Arenas as a teammate, decided to open his mouth and call out Lebron as "overrated". Big Mistake. When you call out one of the top players in the league before a series starts, it's more than enough to propel the Cavs to things like Monday night's 30 point win.

King James also used a rap analogy as his retort, saying that Stevenson calling him out was like Soulja Boy calling out Jay-Z. It just wouldn't make sense or be realistic to even consider the 1 hit wonder Soulja Boy calling out one of the Greatest of All Time in Jay-Z.

TNT got into the fray of things as well. Analyst Marv Albert discussed the whole war of words during Monday night's game, and Marv's iPod full of rap songs was also joked about. Then the creative folks in TNT's editing lab got into things, and what resulted was a mashup of Marv meets Soulja Boy.

Watch the YouTube video of Marv Albert as Soulja Boy here!

Dirk & Arenas Return to Action!

Two NBA superstars stepped back on the court this past Wednesday night, and their teams definitely needed their presence.

Earlier on Wednesday, it appeared the Mavs All-star Dirk Nowitzki would not be suiting up against the Warriors. But Dirk was surprisingly back in action against Golden State. Nowitzki had 18 points and 5 boards as his Mavs defeated the Warriors 111-86. His newest teammate, PG Jason Kidd had an impressive 17 assists in the win. Jason Terry led the way with 31 points. A Dallas Morning News article discusses how the Mavericks will need Jason "The Jet" Terry to take off, to give them a playoff shot.

Ironically, an ESPN Sportsnation poll actually had fans voting that the Mavs will be the most likely West Conference team to not make the playoffs (of 3 choices). The other 2 choices were Denver and Golden State.

Also returning on Wednesday was Agent 0, Gilbert Arenas for the Washington Wizards who had been absent since November 16th. Gil's been out a lot longer, and in his absence both Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison made the all star game. Butler had especially stepped his game up. Arenas came back as the Wiz faced the Bucks and put in a 17 point performance, as well as 2 key free throws to give the Wizards a late lead. But it was a name you may have not heard before, Ramond Sessions, who was the difference maker though. Sessions hit a buzzer beater jumper to give the Bucks the 110-109 edge.

According to an AP report, Arenas was ready to go 10 days earlier but a team doctor wouldn't give the go ahead. With Gilbert & Dirk back on the hardwood, both their teams have renewed optimism as we head into the final games of the season, and the playoff race heats up.

Arenas' Return in February

According to Wizards superstar Gilbert Arenas in his latest blog, he should be 100% and back from injury sometime in mid February. Arenas doesn't want to push things though. He notes that Kobe and Wade have gone through phases after injuries where they had to favor them, and that can hurt the team.

From Gilbert's blog:

" We watched the Miami Heat and I see Wade out there … and I remember seeing Kobe like that … and that’s what I didn’t want to do, to be out there limping and trying to push it, because it don’t look good. You don’t play well, you’re always guarding the injury and you can see Wade right now out there guarding it, and that’s the only reason the Heat are struggling so bad. He’s not being Wade right now. He’s not playing up to his potential because of the injury he’s coming back from.

They say I’ll be at 100 percent around February, mid-February, somewhere around the All-Star break, but I’m just going to be in extra wait mode, just to be sure. "

Gilbert also has an interesting spin on the concept of setting New Year's resolutions. Check it out here.

A Skiles & Arenas' Christmas

Tis the 2007-08 NBA season..Just not for the Bulls or their Coach Scott Skiles. The current Chicago record of 9-16 gave General Manager Paxson enough reason to make a change. Unfortunately that change was made on Christmas eve and it was the firing of Coach Scott Skiles. Skiles brought the team to the playoffs in the past 3 seasons. Last season had the Bulls sweeping the Miami Heat in the playoffs before falling to the Pistons. This season's been disappointing for the Bulls to say the least. Skiles said he's not unhappy with the timing and realizes a change needed to be made. According to ESPN the Bulls will go with their assistant coach for now, until GM Paxson makes an offer for another coach, after the season. An early candidate for the job may be Rick Carlisle, former Pistons and Pacers coach.

Merry Christmas to all NBA players, coaches, refs, personnel, dancers and fans! Check out Gilbert Arenas' blog about the cool Christmas gift he received from Anfernee Hardaway.

Gilbert is Sorry, Sorta?

Gilbert Arenas decided to semi-apologize for his big prediction when he wrote on his latest NBA blog. He had previously made a bold prediction that the Wizards would upset the Celts on opening night, and of course the Big 3 spoiled the party.

"They had it and I had to eat my words on national television. 0-1 on predictions is not the way you want to start out the season, especially me with my mouth.

But I did have two fans sitting on the front row wearing No. 0. They sat right next to the bench. They were two really good fans.

I've been going to Boston for many years now and I've never seen anything like that. I know most of you were watching it on TV, but if you were there you could hear them just chanting my name which was beautiful because I don't think even Michael Jordan got his name chanted in another arena like that.

Even though mine was chanted for hatred, it felt good. Now there's a bond between me and the Boston fans. "

Agent 0 will probably be keeping his predictions to himself now. You can read more from the latest blog of Gilbert Arenas here.

It's Early for the East

The clocks have been moved back 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time, so it's early on the East coast. It's also early for the Eastern Conference, but there's been some interesting developments so far.

- The surprise of the young NBA season so far would have to be an undefeated Indiana Pacers team. The Pacers have gone 3-0 beating the Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. The Pacers team webpage is already saying the Pacers are a team who's able to find ways to win and asking if they might fit into the playoff picture. If so, the East is more competitive than we all thought. The Bucks and Sixers haven't looked terrible so far and they were predicted to be near the bottom of the Conference this season. Remember, it's still early.

- The other surprise although it is early is the Chicago Bulls. They've dropped games to both the Pacers mentioned above and the Bucks, who are two teams you might have considered out of contention this year. Looking at stats, Ben Gordon is leading them and is one of 5 double-digit scorers. Ben Wallace's numbers look subpar with just 4.5 rebounds per game, 2 assists and 1.5 blocks. They need his rebounding and defensive help, although Tyrus Thomas may take that on. Again, it's early and you can't possibly believe a team like Chicago won't turn things around and go on a win streak. Getting Kobe would have been nice, but now that it seems unlikely, the Bulls can get on track. The Bulls despite their losing ways are giving away an SUV on their website.

-The Celtics aren't so much a surprise. The Big 3 did their thing in their opening game and defeated the Washington Wizards. Ray Allen, KG and Pierce combined for over 60 points in the win which is a good sign of things to come should they stay healthy. It didn't help either that Gilbert Arenas talked a bit of smack to Boston and it fans on his blog.

- Gilbert Arenas is also considered to be struggling, as his stat lines aren't looking nearly as nice as last season. Gil's coming off an injury and rehab and is most likely still working himself back. However, he seems to like making premature blog statements against teams like the Boston Celtics. Bad idea.

Gil Arenas - Kicks, Whips & Relationships

Gilbert Arenas, aka Agent 0, has a new shoe coming out called the "Gil II Zero" (Gil 2 Zero). The shoe will be offered in 20 different versions next year, with limited editions. Smart marketing ploy. You can check out more about the shoe and its promotions here at Gilbert's Blog.

Gilbert also goes on to blog about a recent dispute he had with his girlfriend in "Relationships 101". The dispute came about due to his daughter messing up the back seat of a car with yogurt, rocks and sticks, prompting Gilbert to ask his girlfriend if she was ever going to clean the car. The fight resulted in Gilbert going on strike, having to walk a good mile to get to the gym (his girlfriend had been driving him), and spending 7 days sleeping at the gym (because he was on strike). An interesting story indeed.

Check out the blog of Gilbert Arenas here at NBA.com.

Gilbert also has a contest going on at his website GilsArena.com, to win a complete Spaulding basketball court. Contest ends October 1st, so enter now!

Team USA Needs a Trim

As of right now Team USA is faced with a 32 man roster, of which only 17 players will make the final cut and be involved in tournament play, starting August 22 in Las Vegas. The US will try to qualify for a spot in the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing. Here's the 32 names on the list right now:

Carmelo Anthony, Forward
Gilbert Arenas, Guard
Shane Battier, Forward
Chauncey Billups, Guard
Carlos Boozer, Foward
Bruce Bowen, Forward
Elton Brand, Forward
Kobe Bryant, Guard
Tyson Chandler, Center
Kevin Durant, Guard/Forward
Kirk Hinrich, Guard
Dwight Howard, Center
Lebron James, Forward
Antawn Jamison, Forward
Joe Johnson, Guard
Jason Kidd, Guard
Shawn Marion, Forward
Brad Miller, Center
Mike Miller, Guard
Adam Morrison, Forward
Greg Oden, Center
Lamar Odom, Forward
Chris Paul, Guard
Paul Pierce, Celtics
Tayshaun Prince, Forward
JJ Redick, Guard
Michael Redd, Guard
Luke Ridnour, Guard
Amare Stoudamire, Center
Dwyane Wade, Guard
Deron Williams, Guard

There you have it. As you can see it may come down to some tough cuts. But for starters, take Elton Brand out of the list. Then remove JJ Redick, Adam Morrison Luke Ridnour and Mike Miller. I believe at this point in all of their careers there is at least one better player on the list than them. The toughest choices would seem to come at who to keep/remove in point guards and centers. I'd keep Kidd, Paul and Billups around. Eliminate Hinrich, as much as I am a Bulls fan he doesn't compare to the 3 aforementioned. In terms of Centers, Id keep Stoudamire, Oden and Howard. Take Miller out of the list, I believe he's been injury prone at this stage in his career. The other 3 names, even Oden will own Miller in a 1 on 1 matchup, and can take on the likes of big men from other countries. While Miller has been considered a defenisve gem, Howard, Oden and Stoudamire give a nicer intimidation factor in the lane.

Here's my final roster, based on basically eliminating guys who don't measure up to the talent of the other names. You can argue this player or that based on minor aspects. Reddick, Ridnour, Morrison, Durant and Chandler I eliminated based on they have talent but are still expanding on that talent. Deron Williams, who had a breakout season is going to be great in the league. However, comparing him to Kidd, Billups and Paul, I think many would take those names first. Other guys like Brand who is injured and Miller/Odom, who are recent injury questions are easy to decide as well.

I think this final 17 is tough to argue against. It's a team full of the best the NBA has to offer and that's what the original Dream Teams were all about. The past few times around there seemed to be guys looking for individual notoriety. I feel having the big 3 in Melo, James and Wade is great, but you have to believe these guys each want the spotlight and are competitive amongst themselves. But having leadership of guys like Kidd, Billups and Pierce will most likely help with that. There wasn't much at the point guard position before and now its fully loaded. With J Kidd, Paul and Billups at point and guys like Kobe, Melo, Redd, Johnson to shoot as well as the inside presence of the big men on this list, we should be playing in the 08 Olympics.

Love & Basketball's Final 17 Man Roster:

Carmelo Anthony, Forward
Gilbert Arenas, Guard
Chauncey Billups, Guard
Carlos Boozer, Foward
Kobe Bryant, Guard
Dwight Howard, Center
Lebron James, Forward
Antawn Jamison, Forward
Joe Johnson, Guard
Jason Kidd, Guard
Shawn Marion, Forward
Greg Oden, Center
Chris Paul, Guard
Paul Pierce, Celtics
Michael Redd, Guard
Amare Stoudamire, Center
Dwyane Wade, Guard

Arenas Blogs Back on Sharks

The media and sports debate shows were tearing up Gilbert Arenas this past week over a blog he posted, seen at NBA.com. In the blog Gilbert discussed the topic of "Shark attacks". Here's the original post:

"There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack.

I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as.

We’re humans. We live on land.

Sharks live in water.

So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.

A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack."

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Since shows like Pardon the Interruption and Rome is Burning have criticized Arenas for the comments above, Gilbert has responded back saying it was a joke he was re-telling. Agent 0 fired back to the critics in his latest blog:

"I mean they were even talking about it on PTI. Patrick McEnroe was saying I should quit making jokes about sharks and worry about rehabbing. Patrick, you’re right, I should be focusing on my knee. I guess taking 15 minutes to tell a joke doesn’t leave 23 hours and 45 minutes the rest of the day to be working on my knee. Rome was killing me too, but Rome’s my boy so I can’t say anything bad about him.

Patty Mac, shouldn’t you be “focusing” on talking about real sports that are going on? I didn’t realize that telling jokes can get me on PTI. I should do it more often.

Did you hear the one about the monkey and the dog …

I would finish the joke, but I already spent too much time on this post and need to get back to the gym according to McEnroe.

Before I do though, I’m going to go play with my new pet. It’s called a “liger.” It’s a cross between a tiger and a lion. I made it up. Man, I’m so original.

(Yes, I stole that from Napoleon Dynamite. Rent it. It’s funny.) "

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Oddly enough, Gilbert didn't state he was re-telling a joke until after the criticism. A disclaimer might have helped, but he really is entitled to say what he choose, as it is his blog. Also, in his defense, a recent Larry King show with hosts of a show about Sharks discussed how they don't believe shark attacks are a developing problem and they even echoed the idea that when you are in the water, you are in a shark's environment. They claimed you're not necessarily being attacked, but the sharks are going after food that happens to be in their environment. You decide.

It's also good to see that the NBA Referee scandal isn't rocking the sport so badly this week, thanks to Gilbert and KG.

Gilbert Arenas' blog at NBA.com can be seen here.

Top Jerseys, Gilbertology & More..

Right now the NBA store lists the Greg Oden jersey as its #3 top selling item from the store. The Kevin Durant jersey is #4 in overall store sales. Ahead of the 2 jerseys are Spurs Championship Gear at #1 and Finals Tees at #2.

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Several ESPN/NBA analysts and writers are weighing in on the fact that the NBA's Eastern Conference became stronger with the additions of guys like KG, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Zach Randolph. Several of the writers say the Celtics are now a playoff lock, with a few commenting on their need for more reserve players, because injuries can be a problem for a 3 man team. View more here.

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In Gilbert Arenas' recent blog entries he posts the following about the Celtics getting KG:

"Wow.

Boston’s going to be a lot better. They’re just one more team that jumps out from the bottom to the top now with him, Ray Allen and P2. You got to be weary about that when your team’s in the East because the Celtics can easily jump to the top three teams in the conference now that they have him.

The rest of us in the Eastern Conference got to get on our grind now."

Read more of Gilbert Arenas' blog entries here.

Arenas' 100,000 Shot Challenge

In Gilbert Arena's recent blog entries he discusses several things, including a personal challenge to himself to make 1000,000 shots over a stretch of 73 days.

"Right now I’m in the middle of making 100,000 shots over 73 days. It’s a little mini-series I do. Right now I’m shooting 69.7 percent from the three-point line and I’m shooting 79.3 percent, I think, from the college three. There’s three people that rebound and tally my makes and misses. One kid is Jared, he’s a ball boy and there’s also Drew Cleary, our strength coach, and Brian Chase. He’s actually trying to make the team and doing it with me."

On Sticking to his diet:

"I’m still on my diet too. It’s going well, I’m ripped baby! Of course I’m still tempted by Cheetos. I just said I’m still on a diet, but I didn’t say I don’t cheat away from the diet. Of course I do. I’m an American! We eat bad!

Kobe Bryant lost 20 pounds, so that’s good. I’ll body him. I gained seven pounds, but this is a good seven. I’m at four percent body fat now. I was at 11 percent body fat when I got hurt. So I’m down to four percent and it’s all muscle, cut up, you know, looking diesel."

On Team USA:

"Team USA should do well this year. I was looking at the roster and they’re finally putting a roster together that looks like it can compete -- they got shooters, they got all around players. I don’t know about some of the players, I’m not sure if they’re really USA Basketball material, but at the end of the day if they pick it, they pick it. It needs to be a versatile roster in the end."

Check out Gilbert's Agent 0 blog here.

Gilbertology 101: The Takeover Reloaded

Gilbert Arenas always has some interesting things to talk about. He currently has a blog over at NBA.com where he discusses thing such as his offseason, the talks of Kobe wanting out of L.A. and about buying his very own island:

On Kobe Bryant's trade situation with the Lakers:

I mean, Shaq leaves, Phil Jackson leaves and now you want out? You know, I grew up an L.A. fan and as a fan of L.A. I don’t know what to feel like. I’m like, “Now wait a minute, you want to leave now?” I’m thinking as a fan, not a player. Wait a minute, I bought the 24 collection, you know? He signed 24 jerseys: 24 white, 24 purple, 24 yellow. I got all three colors. I’m a fan! I came back and it’s like, “Damn, he wants to leave no matter what?”

On Greg Oden and the 2007-08 season:

I just signed a four-year deal with Spalding. Me and Greg Oden. It’s commercials, product spots, etc. I am the “It Boy” of ’08 now. Oh, and I changed next season to The Sequel to The Takeover Reloaded because I didn’t get to finish last year the right way, I got hurt. So watch out for The Takeover Reloaded.

On wanting to buy his own island:

I’m really serious when I say this: I’m trying to buy an island.

Diana Ross has one. You know, if you look at property in the states, if you look at my house, I paid $2 million for it and then there’s an island for $1 million. I’m like, “Woah, I have to buy an island.”

I’m really looking into that.

Read Gilbert Arenas' blog at NBA.com here.