Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
January 14, 2010, Washington Post

Gun incident shows Wizards' Gilbert Arenas needs to grow up

"I'm a goofball." That's how Gilbert Arenas, the Washington Wizards star guard, described himself last week.

Boy, is he right.

Arenas was suspended from the National Basketball Association because he brought guns into the Wizards locker room several weeks ago. It seems that Arenas got into an argument with teammate Javaris Crittenton over a card game as the team flew home from a West Coast road trip. Witnesses said the players threatened each other.

Later, Arenas brought four unloaded guns to the locker room and placed them in front of Crittenton's locker with a note that read, "pick one." Two witnesses claim that Crittenton then pulled out a loaded gun.

Arenas claims he was just joking around. He even made fun of the whole incident by forming his thumbs and fingers into guns and pretending to shoot his laughing teammates in a huddle before a game against the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this month.

Guns are no joke. Little kids who don't know better may run around pointing their fingers or toy guns at each other, but Arenas isn't a little kid. He's an adult, and he should know not to make fun of something so serious.

Well, no one is laughing now. Arenas may not play for the Wizards or any other NBA team for a long time. Washington police are looking into whether Arenas may have broken the city's strict gun laws by bringing guns to Verizon Center.

For years, Arenas has been an exciting player who scores lots of points. But he has never been a player, such as Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett or Dwyane Wade, who led a team to a championship. Those guys play hard on offense and defense and do everything they can to help make their team and teammates better. They are real pros, not goofballs.

Maybe Arenas has never been a championship player because he has been too busy joking around and being a goofball. Reports indicate that Arenas plays practical jokes -- some mean, some gross and most not very funny -- on his teammates. It seems to me that such jokes can tear a team apart, not make it better.

Kids know it is important to act your age. It's not cool for a 10-year-old to act like a kindergartner. Or for a teenager to act like he belongs in grade school.

Arenas is 28 years old. He is the father of three children. He is perhaps the most important player on his team. It is time for Arenas to grow up, start acting his age and stop being a goofball.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is the author of such kids' books as "Touchdown Trouble" and "Soccer Team Upset."

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