Law Prof's Advice to Suspended Wizards Guard: Turn Off Twitter
Providing a legal analysis tonight of the National Basketball Association’s stunning indefinite suspension today, without pay, of Gilbert Arenas, a Vermont Law School assistant professor offered a succinct suggestion to the star Washington Wizards guard: Turn off your Twitter account.
It was bad enough to bring guns, which apparently may have been unloaded, into the Wizards locker room late last month (for which Arenas has apologized, notes the New York Daily News). But the star player has subsequently made matters worse by his handling of the situation, says professor Michael McCann.
The presence of firearms in the locker room potentially could have violated both NBA rules and Washington, D.C., law, according to the newspaper and a Washington Post question-and-answer format interview with McCann.
And, if Arenas is charged and convicted of a felony, that could void his entire contract, worth almost $100 million over a five-year period, since it contains a morals clause, the law prof notes.
Even if no crime is found to have occurred, however, it is possible that the Wizards would seek to terminate his contract under the clause, McCann tells the newspaper, although such a move would almost certainly result in an arbitration contest.
As a practical matter, however, the high public profile that Arenas is maintaining on Twitter and Facebook after the incident is now perhaps his biggest problem.
“As I read the NBA’s statement from this afternoon, it seems that he is being punished not for bringing the guns into the Verizon Center, but for what what league considers to be inappropriate behavior (using Twitter etc.) following his statement of contrition yesterday,” says McCann. (The Post article also includes a photo of Arenas pretending to “shoot” teammates yesterday with the fingers of both hands pointed in a gunlike gesture.)
“It’s time to get serious,” McCann says, “and to get off Twitter.”
In a written statement provided today by his attorney, Ken Wainstein of O’Melveny & Myers, to the ABA Journal, Arenas apologizes, saying:
“I feel very badly that my actions have caused the NBA to suspend me, but I understand why the league took this action. I put the NBA in a negative light and let down my teammates and our fans. I am very sorry for doing that.
“While I never intended any harm or disrespect to the NBA or anyone else, my gun possession at the Verizon Center and my attempts at humor showed terrible judgment. I take full responsibility for my conduct.
“Earlier today, I called [NBA] Commissioner [David] Stern to apologize, and I hope we will be able to talk soon. I look forward to the day I can return to basketball. In the meantime, I will focus on dealing responsibly with this serious situation and I will continue to cooperate fully with the investigations by law enforcement and NBA authorities.”
Additional coverage:
ESPN: “Arenas suspended indefinitely”
National Basketball Association: “David Stern statement on Arenas suspension”
Updated at 11:23 p.m. to include statement from Arenas.
