Gilbert Arenas and NBA hypocrisy

[Toroc102]

I'm sure anyone posting on this thread knows the Gilbert Arenas situation but heres a quick recap

-Arenas is a known prankster

Apparently

-He and teammate Javaris Crittenton we're gambling on a recent flight, Arenas got shady about paying his due, words we're had, Crittenton took this seriously, Arenas did not, words we're had, Javaris said he'd shoot Arenas knee, Arenas shows up at a subsequent practice, lays three unloaded guns out and tells Crittenton to "pick one" supposedly as a prank, Crittenton gets angry, pulls his own gun out and loads it, teammates calm the shit down, no one gets shot(or punched, scratched, kicked, etc).

Now I'm not saying I'm defending either of these players actions, the whole thing is now being investigated by the authorities in DC, the NBA was going to hold off on its own consequences until Arenas instigated Stern so now he's suspended indefinately and deservedly so.

What I want to know, is, why is it that the NBA catches so much flak for being full of "thugs" or being "ghetto" when you seemingly hear about a new scandal every month in the NFL, and there seems to be a never ending steroid problem along with the often completely overlooked bench clearing brawl in the MLB. Why do those MLB brawls always get overlooked as boys will be boys, and NBA brawls are thugs being thugs, when in reality both situations are men being men?

I'll go ahead and say its because of racism, since baseball is not yet truly dominated by black people, and the NFL's most visible position is still dominated by white people as well as both sports having much more history in America than the NBA. However I'm also going to put some of the blame on David Stern because he is always quick to doll out punishments and regulations instead of defending his players, the majority of which have never done anything illegal or gotten into any scuffles on the court. The way he does things in my opinion, give off the impression of "yes I know that we have a league full of thugs, but I am doing everything possible to school that out of them" and if the highest power in any organization seems to think that way about his employees, it just gives more credence to the damning media personalities.

I suppose I just wanted to get that rant off my chest in a public forum, does anyone else have any thoughts on this subject?

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

It is not racist and I'm sure that a white player did the same things that Arenas did, Stern will give out the exact same punishment. Arenas was trying to play off the whole thing as a joke when it was dead serious and he deserved what he got. Most of the NBA consists of African-American players and most if not all who get in trouble in the NBA are African-Americans. Chris Andersen has gotten in trouble plenty of times and didn't receive any preferrential treatment. The dress code was a good thing because you should act professional in a professional environment. I don't think Stern is racist in any shape, form, or fashion.

 

[Toroc102]

I'm not saying the punishment was racist, like I said, he totally deserved what he got, I'm saying that the view of the NBA as opposed to the rest of the sports leagues is caused by underlying racism.

Why is the NBA always singled out for being so bad when leagues like the NFL and MLB to me have much worse problems that they are currently dealing with. I mean from where I stand no one in the NBA has killed anyone or backed a dog fighting ring within the past two years(or four or 10). NFL has to have the most violent scandals of any sports league but they get by because its the nations sport.

Also, I wouldn't say Stern is racist, but I don't think he is enamored with black culture. Even if he was racist, he couldn't really do anything about it.

 

[Khalifa]

What is that how it happened? I thought it was Arenas just pulled out a gun ( I don't know if it was loaded or not) and pointed it at Crittenten and then it was broken up, Never knew Arenas was pulling a joke or nothing.

Anyways I don't care what sport it is, this is unacceptable behavour! You do not pull a loaded gun out on someone, I don't care if your fucking Michael Jordan, it is just some shit you don't do. Even pulling a non-loaded gun out on someone is pushing the boundries. I don't know why NBA cops it more down here. Because when an incident is happening in the NBA Australia always gets told about it, I think it's becuase it is the only american sport to be played down here that also has a good enough league IMO. Yeah not much help but thats just from Australia's point ha.