<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Gilbert Arenas culled from Latrell Sprewell's tired material in saying his decision to opt out of his contract with the Wizards after next season is based on securing the financial future of his two children. To which can be said: Give me and all the other workaday lugs a break. Earth to Arenas: With your $64 million contract, you already are in a position to give your children advantages that you never had. It turned out fairly well for you. It gave you a deep hunger. The wealth of the Hiltons produced the opposite effect on Paris. This is not to object to an athlete looking to squeeze every last penny out of a team. That is the American way. We do not live in a socialist's paradise, where everyone lives in egalitarian harmony, which is to say everyone lives in poverty. We live in a free marketplace, and if Arenas is inclined to test what his unique talents might bring on the open market, good for him. That is the game. That is what we all do. We all want to be paid, and the more we are paid, the better. Just leave the children out of it. Whenever you hear adults discussing how it is all about the children, you know it is time to secure your wallet. It is rarely about the children. It is usually about the adults saying it is about the children. Here is another thing that is becoming annoying -- the implied notion that Ernie Grunfeld and Eddie Jordan will be held accountable if Arenas decides the team lacks championship-quality personnel. Arenas conveniently overlooks the obvious, which is: This is his team, his coach, his city.</div> Link The writer Tom Knott has a good point with the advantages Gilbert Arenas has already here in DC and how weak the East is here, so much that it's plain retarded to go elsewhere like a mediocre team going nowhere for only a few million more a year. He definitely has more than enough to support 2 children, last time I checked, the gas prices were only rising, not pampers. I don't think comparing his situation to Latrell Sprewell's back in 2004 is really fair. Gilbert's a superstar and earns every dollar from the team, while Latrell was asking for a lot of money for old blood. I don't think Gil will leave. He's said it himself that he was going to stay in DC, unless a miracle offer elsewhere happens, and he just lost the hope of proving everyone wrong and achieving all his goals.
