Gilbert Arenas was arrested on charges of an illegal gambling ring. And Stephen A. Smith had a stern message for his sports media colleague when he was joking about it on a stream.
Arenas is facing five years per count on federal charges along with several others. Arenas is accused of hosting an illegal gambling operation because he collected a rake from the poker games that were staffed with a number of people including servers, chefs, valets, and security guards.
On a gaming stream, Gilbert Arenas did not seem stressed about the hefty charges. In fact, he took the opportunity to joke with Stephen A. Smith over First Take suffering from a type of “Madden Curse.” Just this week, Arenas and fellow First Take contributor Marcus Morris were arrested. And Shannon Sharpe also lost his job at ESPN after settling a sexual assault lawsuit.
On his podcast over the weekend, Smith led with a message to Gilbert Arenas. And needless to say he did not see the joke.
Smith spent almost ten minutes talking to Arenas, connecting the recent arrest to his famous gun incident while with the Washington Wizards, and trying to convince him of the seriousness of the charges.
“I need you not to play around,” Smith said to Arenas. “My brother, I don’t want to see you in jail. At all. It’s not a good look. It’s nothing to laugh about, it’s nothing to joke around and think it’s funny when the feds come raiding your home. I don’t want to see that. I don’t want to hear about anything like that.”
And Smith said that Arenas is risking his future career in the media with his arrest and legal troubles.
“I can assure you anyone who wants to do business with you, and I’m one of those people, ESPN, Underdog, a whole bunch of sponsors and advertisers, we don’t want to see that. Anybody that knows anything about you and your knowledge of the game and your ability to articulate and deliver your positions, my brother, you are a special talent. We don’t want to see that,” he continued.
The First Take host then went on to remind Arenas of the infamous gun incident with Javaris Crittenton in Washington and his reaction to it that angered the NBA, when he made light of it by making gun gestures during pregame introductions a few days later. What Smith sees is a troubling pattern of behavior from Arenas in not just the controversy that he has gotten in, but his light-hearted reaction to it. He also argued that the misfiring from prosecutors in the case against Sean “P. Diddy” Combs will refocus efforts on Arenas in another high profile case.
“This is not a game. It’s not a game. It’s not a game when the feds come knocking at your door and put you in cuffs and take you away. Yea, you out. And I hope you stay out. And I hope all of this is false and I hope that you’re able to continue with Gil’s Arena and then some. Because my brother, you got a bright future. And me personally, I think you’re a good brother. I’m not here to denigrate or disrespect you. I’m here to tell you because I care, stop messing around. Stop with the jokes. I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about you being seen on camera laughing and giggling and smiling like federal charges ain’t a big deal. It’s a big deal! It’s a big deal,” Smith said.
Smith even dropped a rare f-bomb to show just how much Arenas’ reaction to federal charges and potential jail time troubled him.
“When you’re serious and locked in, there’s few on this planet smarter than you bro. When you’re serious and locked in. Not when you’re f—ing around and acting like it’s a joke.”
Stephen A. Smith understands the severity of the situation that Gilbert Arenas finds himself in, even if the former NBA point guard and current podcast host may not seem to at the moment. But from the sounds of it, it’s going to be a long time before we see the two on air together at ESPN again.
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