Zero to Hero?

I promise this won't be a post to verbally, in written form, blast on another "professional" athlete. I know the content of my last post was intended to focus on the city of Denver, but I did come down on Carmelo Anthony, like I do with almost any professional athlete in this blog that makes a fool of himself. But this one will be different. I actually see potential to change.

Agent Zero has hit rockbottom. How do you come back from this? All we remember of the three-time All-Star, or at least for me, are his overbearing cockiness that came from stardom, his knee surgery "rehabs" that turned into mass Twitter sessions, his joking persona that makes people question his motivation, and his thuggish attitude to actually pull out a handgun on teammate, Javaris Crittenton. These antics brought him suspensions and jail time, and his team suffered from his absence.

Looking at everything optimistically however, the Washington Wizards did gain something from Arenas' absence - a first-round draft pick in University of Kentucky sensation, John Wall. Now the only question is if Arenas is willing to take a backseat and let Wall take over the franchise that he destroyed?

Now, three years removed from playing a full NBA season, Arenas is all business at training camp. The smile is gone. The phone is on silent. The beard is out. The number has changed. But plenty of NBA players have been in this situation. They woke up one morning and said, "I'm gonna change." Next thing you know, nothing's changed. What makes Arenas different to me?

He's used to people counting him out. No scouts came to see him play at the University of Arizona. No NBA team, until the very last team (Golden State Warriors) that had a draft pick to "waste", believed in his abilities. No one believed he would be a three-time All-Star. No one believed he could be trusted with the ball with 5 seconds left in a tie ball game. No one believed he could lead a team. And no one believes he could come back from this. This is no new predicament that Arenas is in. And as much as we hate the things that Arenas did to himself, his ball club, and the NBA, we have to admit that he proves his critics wrong time and time again. Most Improved Player honors and three-time All-Star for the last pick of a draft class - doesn't happen too often.

Maybe the reason he screwed up so horribly was that everyone was beginning to believe in him, believe in his talents and leadership abilities, as ironic as that sounds. He was drowning in success and fame.

We boil it all down to the topic of motivation again. Shaq has Kobe as his source of motivation. Gilbert needs his doubters. He needs people to give up on him. He needs critics to be skeptical of him. He needs people to doubt him. In this way, he betters himself by proving them all wrong.

Gilbert has gained all of his critics again. I expect a monster season.

- Leather Head