Gilbert Arenas has kept him self out of the news for most of the off-season and just when I thought he was maturing and taking care of his responsibilities there is a report that Gilbert is blaming the Wizards for how they handled his rehab.
"Nobody could guard me before, and can't nobody guard me now," Arenas told the newspaper. "If I hadn't come up here, I'd be starting off the season with a 95 percent chance that I'd be sitting out more games. ... [Tim Grover] saved my career."
"If you have a kid that loves basketball, that eats, sleeps, drinks and thinks basketball and all he knows is basketball and he gets hurt and he's your franchise player, you need to hold him back from himself," Arenas told the newspaper. "If I'm saying I feel good and you know it's supposed to take six months, instead of letting me at four months run ... they should have held me back. Rather than saying, 'Let's let this guy do what he wants and use him to sell tickets' -- sometimes you have to protect players from themselves. I don't feel like I got that type of protection. But, I don't judge them for that. Some things just happen. I told them I felt OK because I wanted to play, and they did what they did.”
This is complete drivel. I cannot believe that Gilbert Arenas would publicly state that the Wizards didn’t have his best interests at heart.
While I am not a medical doctor, I have been a recovery knee surgery patient in both knees so I feel I have some idea of what happened.
After Surgery One
Doctor: Gilbert you knee is improving as long as you continue with your rehab you should be back on the court within a few months
Gilbert: does that mean I can play now?
Doctor: It is not advisable; however some light practices wouldn’t do any additional damage, but take it easy and continue with your rehab and you will be back to normal in no time!
Gilbert: Okay
* Gilbert injures knee playing pickup with teammates attempting to dunk on Deshawn Stevenson*
After Surgery Two
Doctor: Okay Gil we don’t want a repeat of last time, have you been doing your exercises?
Gilbert: Yes I have however I need to play, you know?
Doctor: We don’t want to risk re-injuring your knee it would be better if you do not play
Gilbert: But I have to people are forgetting about me, and now that I stopped blogging no one will remember me!
Doctor: Well we can do a more aggressive rehab to attempt to get you on the court faster but there is some risk of re-injuring your knee
Gilbert: That’s okay I just want to play!
*Gilbert injures his knee passing the ball to Caron Butler*
Gilbert exchange with doctor in the locker room
Gilbert: I thought this would work
Doctor: Gil I advised you there was a chance that this carried risk
Gilbert: No you didn’t, I was there I would remember
Doctor (sighing): Okay Gil whatever you say
This humorous back and forth represents the fact that Gilbert has always pushed the envelope and dictated his own rules. While I do not deny the team could have been in favor for the aggressive rehab, the player knows his body. So regardless of boredom, or whatever scenario you can imagine I find it difficult to believe that Gilbert Arenas could be forced into playing if he didn’t feel right. So if for whatever reason Gilbert becomes injured this year, will he have a comment towards Tim Grover who would have just ‘saved his career?’ Ironically Grover has reached out to Arenas twice and was refused twice. This makes zero sense. Gilbert does not strike me as someone who would risk his personal health and would consult with the best person(s) available in order to get back on the court.
This latest rambling and self-edifying nonsense is simply another example of Gilbert placing the blame elsewhere when it is his responsibility to be truthful about his condition. His man problem is that Gilbert is still very much a child, and has yet to grow up. For the Wizards to have any chance this year the team will have to hold accountable and to a higher standard in order for Gilbert to become a man.
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