Gilbert Arenas‘ availability for the Wizards regular-season opener at Orlando on Thursday should be a priority after Arenas missed a second straight practice on Monday with soreness in his right ankle.
Except both the Wizards and Arenas seem quite indifferent about the whole thing. Not that the first game of the season is a big deal or anything.
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“He’s got soreness in his ankle, a little bit of fluid,” Wizards head coach Flip Saunders said after practice on Monday.
Arenas, in his way, declined to talk to the media. Asked about his ankle as he made his way from the Verizon Center practice court to the Wizards locker room, Arenas stared blankly ahead then turned into the locker room. As he disappeared from view, he was overheard saying in a sing-song voice, “You’ll see.”
But nobody’s seen Arenas play since Washington’s preseason game against Milwaukee on Oct. 14 in which he lasted three minutes before leaving with an injured right groin. Arenas also missed the game before that after faking an injury.
The upshot is whether it’s intentional or an accident, there’s a growing gap between Arenas and the rest of the Wizards. Through his behavior or his health, it appears it’s also going to be up to Arenas to decide whether his bridge is built to reconnect them. The Wizards don’t seem concerned.
“I have no idea if he’s going to be ready or not ready,” Saunders said. “… We’d love to have him. If we don’t have him, I still think we can go out there and be effective.”
