In an interview with the USA Today, Arenas told a story about Blatche once throwing all of his clothes in the jacuzzi because he thought Gilbert cut up his suit. Arenas insists he was not the culprit, but he was forced to get back at Blatche for throwing his clothes in the hot tub. He decided to take aim at Blatche’s sneakers

“It was just dog doo-doo in it,” Arenas recalled. “It was really dog doo-doo. … I took his sole out, threw it under there, put the sole back on and threw the baby powder on there so he couldn’t smell it.”

Advantage: Arenas. Based on the way he went about the prank, this sounds like a man who has pulled the dog s*** in the sneaker prank before. Under the sole and baby powder to mask the smell? That kind of expertise doesn’t just come to you one morning when you wake up. Either Gilbert did a lot of Google research ahead of time, or Andre wasn’t the first person to feel the squish at the hands of Agent Zero.

Photo credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

Arenas, who signed with the Grizzlies last month, says he’s finally at peace with his life after going through what he called “dark years” following his incident with Crittenton. But in retrospect, he feels that he unfairly bore the brunt of the backlash from the locker room ordeal and that Crittenton didn’t receive as much scrutiny as he should have. Arenas hopes Crittenton’s latest troubles vindicate his belief.

“Hey, when it was supposed to have been both of us going through the same thing, I didn’t hear his name,’’ Arenas told Fox Sports Florida’s Chris Tomasson. “It was Gilbert and a teammate. Now, everyone finds out who was the real problem. Hopefully, he gets through it, and God bless him. But that’s none of my concern.

“Like people say, the light eventually turns on the good one. At first, I was supposed to have been the bad seed, but I’m back doing something I love and that’s all I can think about. I can’t think about what he’s going through. He has his own problems and, hopefully, I just wish him the best.’’

I think Crittenton has more pressing matters than worrying about what Arenas has to say about their Wild West re-enactment from over two years ago. It’s probably time for Gil to move on, too.

Photo credit: Spruce Derden-US PRESSWIRE

“[The idea] came up a couple weeks ago and we gradually worked towards it,” Wallace said on The Chris Vernon Show.

Host Chris Vernon pressed Wallace about the issue, and the GM caved.

“I’m going to admit this, I’m going to come clean. I’ll be honest about it, okay? … I’m in the office of [President of Business Operations] Greg Campbell, he says, ‘You outta read this thing that’s on a blog today.’ And I don’t read the blogs, but this guy wrote this case for Gilbert Arenas, and I read the thing and said ‘Greg, you know something? This guy makes some sense.’

“I thought about it and said, you know, we gotta look into it a little further.

“So I called his agent up. I’m willing to admit it — I pride myself on being open-minded — and you look at the finances involved, and the group of players involved, and why not?”

Wallace said he didn’t even know what blog it was or who wrote the post. The honesty from Wallace gave Vernon a hearty laugh, but the GM justified the move.

“I don’t see this as a gamble. It’s a very nominal investment, and he has every incentive to make this work,” Wallace said of Arenas.

Wallace admitted he didn’t know much about Arenas and didn’t do the same kind of background investigation they would do for a draft pick because the stakes weren’t as high. He said he likes that Arenas is proven and can play both guard positions. Wallace characterized the signing as an attempt to “shoot the moon” with a player who has such a strong resume.

The expectations for Arenas are low, but Wallace believes Arenas is highly motivated to make sure this works out. Arenas’ NBA future depends on how he does in Memphis; even by just being a good role player and teammate Arenas he can become more attractive to prospective teams.

Arenas became a free agent after being released by the Magic in December via the amnesty clause. He worked out for the Lakers but never signed with them. Arenas signed with the Grizzlies this week after working out for them on Monday. He scored two points in 12 minutes after making his Grizzlies debut in a loss to Portland Thursday night.

The blog post in question is believed to be this one that appeared on the site “3 Shades of Blue.” If things work out for Gil in Memphis, he owes the writer, Lee Eric Smith, a huge thank you.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time a team’s front office got the idea for a transaction through a fan’s suggestion.

H/T Deadspin
Photo Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-US PRESSWIRE

Arenas would be signed to a contract for the veteran’s minimum and could join the team for its Thursday game at Portland.

Gilbert is 30 years old, recovering from knee issues, and underwent a plasma therapy treatment to improve his knees. He hasn’t played pro basketball since ending last season with the Magic. He admitted in a recent interview that his mind wasn’t right with Orlando, so Memphis is hoping that he’ll be in a proper frame of mind.

The Grizzlies are 25-18, fifth in the Western Conference standings and probably figure they need to make a move to compete with some of the teams ahead of them. It’s a risky play for Memphis given how ineffective Arenas has been lately, and how much of a distraction he can be. I really hope he signs and that this works out well for both sides.

Arenas hurt his knee at the end of the ’06-’07 season, re-injured it trying to come back too quickly, and then missed almost the entire season after having his third knee surgery in two years. The knee surgeries took away his quickness, which was his greatest asset as a player. When he did come back, he played 32 games before getting busted for bringing guns into the Wizards’ locker room and ended up suspended the rest of the season. Gil went from being one of the most beloved players in the league to one of the most notorious.

In a lengthy interview with SI’s Sam Amick, Gil said he doesn’t want the gun incident to define him, and he doesn’t think it should.

“When I got amnestied, I could’ve just taken the money and just left, and just basically said, ‘Hey, you guys did me a favor. I don’t want to be crucified anymore.’ As much as I’ve done for fans and for people, it sucks the way the world works. You can do a hundred things for people, but you do one bad mistake and everyone crucifies you and that’s all they want to remember. They don’t want to remember I gave my own money to the [Washington] D.C. school district and built up the D.C. school district. They don’t want to remember none of that. They just want to remember, ‘Oh, I single-handedly destroyed the Washington Wizards franchise.’ It sucks, but that’s the way it is.”

Arenas opened up about many of his mental issues. He talked about his Agent Zero persona and how he confused it with real life. He admits he wasn’t mentally ready when he was traded to Orlando last season. He talked about not having his basketball spirit. But he insists he’s not a bad person.

“I might have my issues like every other person, but other than that I have a good heart, a good spirit,” Arenas said.

“Before that incident, I was the people’s champion, God’s gift to all fans, gave fans everything. If I never go back to the NBA, I had a great career. I’ve hit big shots. I’ve had my moments. Hey, everyone can’t win a championship, but I had fun. I got to play the game that I always dreamed of, and I did it more than I expected it. That’s how I look at it now.”

Gil is trying to make a comeback but says he won’t until he’s completed his rehab from procedures on his knees and hip. I hope he’s able to have a successful return to the league. It wouldn’t seem right for him to end his career so depressingly.

There is plenty of more good insight about Gil’s life in the interview. Go here to read it all.

H/T Ball Don’t Lie

We all know Agent Zero loves guns, so maybe he wanted to know what it would feel like to wear a police officer’s uniform.  Actually, that wouldn’t explain the skimpy aspect of it.  Along with the above picture which she posted on Twitter, Arenas’ wife wrote that he was “singing ‘Mrs. Officer, Mrs’ Officer!”  Unfortunately that’s all the information we have at this time.

Chest bump to The Big Lead for passing the picture along.

Arenas was initially suspended indefinitely for the incident, but his suspension was extended for the season after he mocked it with this pre-game gesture. The suspension essentially ended Arenas’ career with the Wizards, and on Thursday he intimated that the team leaked the story.

Here’s what he said in a series of tweets as shared by IamaGM.com [edited for grammar and spelling]:

Everyone knows about my troubles last year ..the only reason you do know about it is because my money making days were up… as long as you are making somebody lots of money they will let you do what ever you want..when your time is up they will expose you to the world.

If you ever hear about anything in a locker room it’s because somebody in high power wants it to get out… once all the free shoes are gone..I will be attacked by the media…because there’s nothing to be gained anymore.

I know what people are saying..I brought ….into the locker room..there’s been full blow paint ball shoot outs in locker rooms. Being in the NBA you see everything…what I got in trouble for I’ve seen over a dozen times..

I did give them the tool to take me down so its know one’s fault but mine..and I’ve learned and got wiser from it.. Like I said I’ve made mistakes when you feel like u can do anything you want you try..and I got smacked down to reality when i went too far.

Arenas was in the second season of his six-year $111 million contract when the incident was first reported. He had played only 15 games the previous two seasons because of multiple knee operations, and the team was struggling (10-17) when the incident was revealed. Given all that background, it’s quite possible that some of what Arenas is suggesting is true.

For starters, if he were the same fun-loving Agent Zero from his early days in D.C. when he was an All-Star leading the Wizards to the playoffs, perhaps there would have been more of an effort to handle the matter internally. Can you really see a club going out of their way to report an incident to the league office about one of its star players? Me neither. Maybe Arenas is onto something, but like he said, if he never brought the guns into the locker room, this never would have happened.

Imma do my part this summer And hopefully I do get a fair shot..don’t wanna feel or look like last year..

I like the ppl who use stats to argue..I played with 100 percent green light for entire career..last year I had 0 percent freedom

Now u hav a scorer who is scared to shot the ball becuz if he miss he starts lookin over his shoulder. No player can play like that

The 3 best games I had..was when I knew I couldn’t get pulled..so miss shots and mistakes wasn’t on my mind..just gettn buckets..

But I was a killer in practice tho…lmaoo omg I could shot any shot..I wanted..I was a practice all star..lol

The points he made are understandable and it’s fair to say he’s not a good fit in Orlando. Stan Van Gundy frequently complained that Gilbert wasn’t fitting the team’s system (on either end of the court). I’m not ready to write the rest of Gilbert’s career off, but it’s hard to envision him ever getting back to All-Star levels. One thing does look certain: if he does get back to his old scoring self, it probably will be with a team that has a looser structure.

In addition to Anderson, Gilbert Arenas, Brandon Bass, Earl Clark and Chris Duhon have incorporated boxing into their training regimen. Earlier this month, Arenas posted a nearly 15-minute long video of him training. Check it out:

Agent Zero vs. Tom Brady in the boxing ring, who ya got? It probably doesn’t matter because either Ray Edwards or Tom Zbikowski would take both of them.

All the while Gil has been playing for the Magic, trying to adjust with his new team. He’s kept his mouth shut for the most part, but we did get a few more details about his side of their story on Sunday.

Deadspin published quotes that supposedly came directly from Arenas, explaining what really went on with him and his ex-fiance. For instance, Arenas says Govan, despite her pleas that she and the children have been abandoned “gets 20 grand a month. She got $8,000 allowance.”

He says she is living in a three bedroom townhouse in San Ramon, California. He also adds that “All I hear is, ‘I left the kids.’ She won’t let the kids see me.”

“All I hear is, ‘Gilbert took everything.’ Sure I did. She took a SL600. She took the Range Rover, which I don’t mind because she has to drive the kids around. Oh, all my furniture and all my clothes, about $4 million worth of stuff? Gone.”

Like I said, there are two sides to every story, and Govan’s side is looking weaker and weaker by the day, and her claims are coming across as more preposterous every time. Now that we have their relationship saga straightened out, we just need to do something about fixing Gilbert’s game.