It's easy to forget what our expectations are sometimes. Most sensible sports fans already have a negative view of Gilbert Arenas that's spanned for nearly a decade, if not more. But when someone is in the public eye as much as he is, their worthlessness can slip your mind, leading you to listen to what an irrelevant mouth spouts more than you should.
Unfortunately, we've fallen into that trap as the outrage over Arenas' latest comments storm across the internet even as I type this. It would be easier to just ignore him, but even I must admit that his latest diatribe crossed a level of egregiousness that really grinds at the core of decent people.
"It’s his physical makeup. Long legs, short torso, big a** feet. There’s nothing he can do, he’s built like a whole f*****g b***h. He’s built like a female. Am I saying something wrong? He’s built like a girl. He has girl hips. He’s like a full WNBA player.” - Arenas
Why is he so demonstrative about this? There's a passion to be ignorant, unlike anything I've ever seen. But hatred and baseless disrespect are not rational. This is an unhinged attack on Karl-Anthony Towns, women, and the gay community. Make no mistake about it.
Gilbert Arenas is what's wrong with a long line of misogynists
This reckless drivel doesn't serve anyone. It only reinforces a very wrong stereotype that men have to walk, talk, dress, and act a certain way, and if you don't, you're either gay or acting like a woman. I'm here to tell you that there is nothing wrong with being either one of those things, so nobody should be using them as insults.
KAT has been at the center of some of the most disrespectful comments that have absolutely nothing to do with his game on the floor and everything to do with his disposition, which shouldn't be anyone's business. He's there to play basketball, and he does it better than most.
Arenas pretends to champion women's sports, but nobody will forget his comments on Instagram nearly a decade ago. He made a gross comment suggesting that women should wear less clothing to entice men to watch the sport. He's made several asinine statements over the years, prompting statements denouncing his comments from the NBA and WNBA.
A man who thinks that way doesn't just change his stripes, no matter how many WNBA games he shows up to in an attempt to soften his image. Clearly, that course of action couldn't stick, though. As soon as he gets on that couch and you put a microphone in his face, ignorance follows.
The women in the W are talented, and they shouldn't be used as an example to denigrate an NBA player who just made it further in the playoffs than Gil ever did. The women—not "females" or "b******"—in the W perform at a high level just fine with their body types, and KAT is one of the best bigs in the league, so what are we talking about?
I know the old culture of men is to disrespect women, but it's way past time to stop that nonsense. Almost every person you meet wants similar things to yourself: peace, respect, happiness, and to be left alone when you're not bothering anyone.
Why is it funny to be an a**hole to a group of people who did nothing to you? Because that's just what you do? It's not funny. It's not cool. And you're not making a good point. Grow up.