Loaded Questions

Over the past 24 hours two news stories have broke involving athletes and guns. In Washington D.C., word (rumors) began to spread that two teammates on the Wizards allegedly pulled a gun on each other over a dispute involving an unpaid gambling debt. In Knoxville, Tennessee Men's Basketball coach Bruce Pearl announced he was suspending four of his players after being pulled over by police and authorities found drugs and a weapon on the car.

Two stories within 24 hours, involving athletes and guns. These certainly aren't the first reports and won't be the last. We all know about the incident with Giant's wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, carrying a loaded weapon into a club, which discharged, injuring himself. In the NBA, Stephen Jackson earned his spot on the police blotter when he fired a gun outside a strip club back in 2006. That same year, back in the NFL, Tank Johnson violated his parole by possessing six unregistered firearms.

So this begs the question: How come we never hear of a positive story involving athletes and guns? Oh, I know why...because they don't exist! It's never, "...and if it wasn't for the gun Stephen Jackson had under his shirt, he would have really been in trouble." Or, "Great job by Gilbert Arenas pulling his gun on his teammate. He really defused a tense situation." Point is, nothing good has ever come out of an athlete having a gun on his possession.

Look, I understand that many athletes feel concerned for their safety when they are out socially. However, don't you wonder where these athletes are hanging out that would make them think, "Wallet. Car keys. Gun. Ok, I'm ready to hit the town!" I'm sorry, I know many of these athletes want to "keep it real" and stay true to their roots, but the reality is, once you sign that professional contract, you aren't like your boys you grew up with anymore. You are immediately launched into a new tax bracket, your toys are different and quite frankly, your social circle moved from general admission to the V.I.P. section. You can't fight change. Athletes have to learn to evolve and adapt to their new found financial status.

Another piece of advice, don't make yourself a target. That means, dial down the bling a little bit when stepping out to the club. If you want to strap on the diamond crusted Jacob watch while driving to the arena for a home game, great...have at it. But if you are on the road and want to hit the clubs the night before a game with your boys, how about leaving the giant diamond #20 chain at home. Another tip, two words: Debit Card. How many times do we hear about an athlete that got robbed who had some outrageous amount of cold hard cash in his pocket?

For every athlete that insists they carry a gun for protection, there are 10 who don't. The ones who don't are probably spending their free time in environments that aren't conducive to trouble finding them.

The NBA and NFL are very insistent in their rules that their players do not bring weapons to team facilities, arenas, stadiums. Until this past week, the team locker room was supposed to be the safe haven for many of these athletes. It was the one place they probably felt they didn't need protection from 'potential trouble.' Apparently, the rules have changed.