I think people are overreacting to a stupid, not malicious, act. And I think people are too quick to condemn athletes as gangsters and thugs just because of their profession. If a vice president were to own guns and say accidentally shoot someone in the face while hunting, would people say it was a stupid accident or he is just a gangster?
Now what if an NBA player made a stupid decision using guns as props for a joke? Yeah, I know you can say one had a 'legitimate' reason (hunting) and one didn't (joking). I would counter that by asking what makes shooting birds for entertainment more legitimate than a joke?
The real question here is what is going on in Arenas' head? Was he even thinkingabout my fantasy team? There goes a solid sleeper pick...
There's a difference between a hunting accident and threatening (even if in jest) to shoot another person over a gambling debt, isn't there?
Yeah. Someone actually got hurt in the former. No one did in the latter.
Did Gilbert threaten to shoot someone? I must have missed that.
So, if someone suggested that you pick out a gun for a gun duel, you wouldn't think there was any threat there? Crittendon obviously took it that way, and responded like a gangster himself.
Certainly, I would, and so apparently might Crittendon. But Gilbert Arenas, notoriously 'off beat' (RE: lacking common sense) didn't. He thought it was a joke. How does that make him a thug, or gangster?
"There's a difference between a hunting accident and threatening (even if in jest) to shoot another person over a gambling debt, isn't there?"
Is there? Does Dick Cheney need to kill pheasants to feed his family, or he is out running around in the woods discharging a deadly weapon and killing things for entertainment? Gilbert Arenas made a stupid decision, but in his mind it was a joke, or entertainment.
You can say Gilbert's actions were reckless and endangered someone, but how is that different from going out with a group of friends with the intention of firing guns at low-flying birds in an environment with limited visibility, and apparently not enough gun safety knowledge or regard?