but on tuesday, commissioner david stern suspended arenas indefinitely and without pay. in a statement, he said: >> brown: the "ongoing conduct" referred to a series of events. on new year's day, arenas wrote on his twitter page: "i wake up this morning and seen i was the new john wayne." then on tuesday of this week, arenas joked about commissioner stern: >> who do you fear more, stern or the actual authorities? >> i mean, stern is... is... mean... ( laughs ) but, uh... >> reporter: that same night, arenas was photographed pointing his fingers-- as if they were guns-- at his teammates before a game in philadelphia. the arenas story is just the latest example of athletes getting in trouble over guns. cleveland cavaliers guard delonte west was arrested in maryland last september, allegedly, for speeding on a motorcycle, and carrying loaded handguns and a loaded shotgun. and former national football league player plaxico burress is serving two years in jail after he accidentally shot himself with a handgun. he had no permit for the weapon. but there are also examples of at

t both david stern and roger goell in the nfl have made an effort to try to educate about this situation and ma make unequically clear that they will come down ju iciously but they willome down very, verhard on any gun issue and i thk that is what david stern going to do. >> reporter:ike wise, is this partilar suspension, in this paicular case, was at a surprise or is that what y see happening, mmissioner attorney stepping down hardo make a point. >> wl, the sad thing is i don't think commsioner stern would have acted if gilbert arenas had showed mo contrition after the event. think that much of his behavi after the incident exacerbated how he fel about public perception,or that matter. den what the brady group, a n control group obviously after e former chief of staff, that was shot during the agan assassination attempt comes out against gilbert arenas making pocpistols, at some int david stern is shutting gilbert aecentas down to not furthe embarrass hielf, the league or his organization. and i think he really woul ha waited for the law to make the determination, if nofor his behavior

. >> david -- i am laughing because david stern makes me laugh. >> that is what tmz stick to the entertainment. >> tmz sports coming in march. watch out. i am not ripping them they are hardly ever wrong. >> everyone has an opinion about gilbert arenas but only a select few can understand what it is like to carry the weight of celebrity that comes with being a super star athlete. magic johnson was at our affiliate this week. >> we have enough problem with guns in the inner city without an athlete who they all idolize carrying one into the locker room. so i hope this will send a message not only to kids in urban cityall over but also to athletes. now we got two, we have lex go beurres situation and now we have -- plexico beurres situation and now gilbert arenas. you worked your whole life to get here and then you going to let a gun you know that is illegal, you are going to bring that or bring it to the a club, bring it to the place of work? that can't happen. so this should send a clear message to everybody whether they are in professional sports or not, especially to kids, that we just can't h

gilbert's gesture after introductions when he mocked firing the gun, was basically a way of mocking david stern. he made -- he may not have looked at it that way, but anyone who knows a person in position of authority like david has to be, he forced david's hand. >> while arenas sits at home and waits for potential punishment, there is the right of wizards have of terminating the remainder of his six-year, $111 contract. >> i think he's already been paced on -- placed on gun violation in his career in oakland, the ramifications for him might be greater than for a first offender. they have chance to see how the situation plays from a legal standpoint. if he's indicted for a crime that involves a felony, they have an open-and-shut case to terminate his contract. if he's not but it just falls into the grounds of moral interpreter tiewd, they have an ability -- interpretery tiewd, they have an ability to neil hartman nate and i believe the players union would file a disagreement. >>> he needs to get -- >> he needs to get an advisor. he needs to get somebody he's dealing with he'll listen to. it's a

. >> and david sterne, four, exactly. and the nba has issues.eferee who was -- fixing games and betting on games. you've got now this situation here and david sterne couldn't take. when the guy made that gesture at one of the games like he was shooting. >> let me make it simple. section 4504 of the code if you're unlicensed you got four guns. arenas is looking at a maximum 20 years in the penitentiary. >> really? >> the real thing. >> the real thing. >> fred, a six-year 111 million dollar contract with the nba. he is losing $150,000 a game right now. >> got nothing to do with the court ruling. >> that's what he's known as. >> nothing to do with the courtroom. >> but it's -- it's the result of stupidity. >> absolutely. i agree with that. agree with that. >> okay. avery, richard, thanks so much. always count oun for being very frank. and smart all at the same time. love it. >> thank you. >>> you have a great weekend. >>> all right. freezing temperatures making it very tough on millions of americans right now. we're all waiting for to warm up. will

it is going to be addressed by commissioner david stern, i can assure you of that.e will have something to say about this one when it is all said and done and gilbert arenas may find himself suspended for the year at the very least. >> he will be meeting with police tomorrow and see what comes out of that meeting. stephen a. smith for us. thank you. interesting conversation. amazing. >>> it started with a question for a beaut why you queen. what happened next turned out to be one of the most talked about legal stories of 2009. we will take a look at that list. looking at bones just because they're inside you doesn't mean they're protected. oh, ladies. let's say you have osteoporosis. i do. you could be losing bone strength. can i get it back? (announcer) ask your doctor how to help treat osteoporosis with once-a-month actonel. actonel is clinically proven to help reverse bone loss and can help@i increase bone strength to help prevent fractures. so you can get back some of what you lost. do not take actonel if you have low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or can

. >> what does the commissioner, david stern, have to say about this?k he's doing it completely wrong. they're planning on doing an intervention around gambling. look, they have tons of disposal income and empty time to waste on the road. playing cards in the nba goes back as long as peach baskets, and what david stern is talking about in terms of banning gambling doesn't get at the root of the problem. instead, he should do a serious intervention where they talk to players about what it means to get a home security system or hiring professional bodyguards and not feel like they have to take their security into their own hands. >> i was going to say, what about team owners, security, management at all the different arenas, should they just step up security? armed guards? >> i don't know what they're going to have to do, but one of the great appeals of the nba is the closeness and the proximity between fans and players. >> right, right. >> fweel like we know these guys, and that's -- >> high-five people walking onto the court. >> exactly. >> they fall on

. >> nba all-star gilbert arenas not making fun of it now nba commissioner david stern suspended him indefinitely for having guns in the locker room. >> sterne was trying to figure out what was the appropriate response, and then arenas made it possible not to do something severe when he pointed his finger like that -- made it impossible not to do something to do when he pointed his finger like that at one of his teammates with a photographer present. >> what is the message for kids? >> it is simple, and i write about it in the column -- a good jump shot is not indicative of cal -- of character. just like an individual who likes to chase cocktail waitresses may still have a good swing of the golf club, just as grown men on the football field act like mature little boys, the point is that athleticism is not synonymous with integrity, fidelity, or common sense. if we can get that across, that that is not where to look for the role models, we might get somewhere. >> maybe we should get it across to the athletes. >> a man of real integrity and social conscience was the late owner of the w

chris miller right after the decision was handed down suggesting that it was his suggestion to david sternthat actually led to all of this. >>> all right. thanks so much for being with us for the last hour here on geico sportsnite. for the very latest from around our area on gilbert arenas and the sports are world, just check on csnwashington.com. time now to head to the verizon center. capitals taking on the anaheim ducks. the opening face-off is coming your way next on comcast sportsnet. there is captain oh i have, the great 8, and the caps taking on it't cth pper knowold mus. you!of te! exc... what grndwithan ♪ yout habe so nice ♪ >>> tonight, the a-10. charlotte's cardiac kids are back at it. winners of three straight including two buzzer beaters, the charlotte 49ers take on the number 15 ranked temple owls. at stake? first place in the atlantic 10. it's termal and charlotte, and it's coming up next. >>> welcome to haltman arena on the campus of the university of north carolina charlotte. tonight, it is the number 15 ranked temple owls and the charlotte 49ers. a look now at the a-10 st

the commissioner david stern suspended him indefinitely without pay.e's accused of bringing unloaded handguns into the team's locker room. federal and local authorities are investigating arenas has joked about the incident time and time again. he does say, however, he is sorry. a lot of people are questioning whether or not that is authentic. a lot of questions here now people are asking about gilbert arenas, how long should that suspension last, just for a few games, the rest of the season, couple of seasons or should he be out of the league all together? rick horrow is a sports business analyst. betty, when you think harvard law? >> you think rick horrow. >> thank you. >> rick, good morning to you, sir. >> too much, man. >> happy new year. first time talking to you in the new year. >> i'll give you the really quick weather report. palm beach, snow flurries tonight, i can't wait. i'm getting my shovel out. >> we got bonnie for that but we appreciate you contributing. >> thank you. >> the big question, if this -- and a lot of people might not know this

office, whether it is the metro police in d.c., no matter what they do, trust me, commissioner david stern is going to have something to say about this, i wouldn't be surprised by friday this man is suspended the rest of the year. >> talk about it here, bringing guns, three guns, suspended is that really enough? what is going on that people feel, especially these players, that they have to carry guns or bring guns into a locker room? i can't believe i'm even having this conversation it is common sense. you don't do -- i don't bring a gun into cnn. i don't bring a gun anywhere i go what is going on here? >> i think it is important to understand this is not the first time we have talk about the absence of common sense when it comes to professional athletes. that is number one. number two and more importantly, some of the things we talk about in the world of sports, particularly as it pertains to the african-american community that is sort of like tab books but just real, you have got quite a few players, not the majority, but the actions of a few taint the many. you have got the actions of a

and is he in a position now where david stern has another issue -- the last thing you want in a sentence and guns if you're the nba commissioner. is he going to have to come down so hard on this young fella? i mean, what can you imagine the punishment will be beyond this indefinite suspension? >> well, i think there's definitely going to be big consequences, but i think also in regard to gilbert, i they lot of times the nba -- i don't know if it's fair or unfair -- kind of gets lump in together when there's one player that does something wrong. i think in other sports, you think about the plaxico incident in the nfl, it was a plaxico incident, really wasn't an nfl with guns. so i think that the nba fairly or unfairly gets treated that way, but in the same sense he needs to come down and there's going to be some serious consequences and deservedly so. >> also you think because it's lumped in, but we've seen several incidents -- it's a smaller club certainly than the nfl, but sebastian telfair, jayson williams, stephen jackson, so many of them and such a smaller group of guys, some people

. >> chris: this week, probasketball commissioner david stern suspended washington wizards star gilbert for bringing guns in the team locker room. stern said arenas is not currently fit to take the court in an nba game. it got us to thinking how different things were almost four years ago when we made arenas our power player of the week. >> gilbert! ♪ >> when we met arenas in april of 2006, he was the face of the franchise. an all-star, who was one of the nba's top scorers. but what struck says was his attitude. he said he was just a fan playing the game. who had no patience for pri madon pri -- prima donnas in the league. >> there are players i hate, even some pro athletes. >> chris: which makes what happened last week more stunning. after missing most of the last two seasons with knee injuries but still signing a contract worth $107 million, arenas got in an argument with a teammate over a gambling debt. arenas pulled out four unloaded guns, he says as a joke. >> i bring them to my locker and, you know, put all my teammates -- >> chris: then before a game this week he pretended to sho

values, colby may of american center for law and justice, rabbi david sat christine of the religious action center of reformed judaism, marc stern of the american jewish congress, mitchell formally of the general conference of seventh-day adventists and i hope i haven't missed any drafters in the audience with us today. isabel, my goodness, thank you. you changed your name recently, but i'm so glad that you raise your hand here. isabel richmond of the first freedom center, a very valued drafter and came from richmond to join us this morning. thank you so much, isabel, for your participation in this project. well, again that what makes this statement particularly valuable is that it has been tightly drafted not only by a group that is quite diverse and religious terms but also diverse in terms of the church representatives. indeed, to some on the drafting committee are actually on opposite sides of church and state litigation it with some regularity. the drafting committee for the seven includes for example, a former staff member of the aclu, jeremy gone, an akron member of law and justice. investors like this can agree on what t

american center for law and justice, rabbi david silverstein of the religious action center for reform judaism, dr. raj on religion and education, marc stern of the american jewish congress, mitchell tyner formerly of the general conference of seventh day adventists and i hope i have not missed any drafters here in the audience with us today. isabella, my goodness, thank you. isabel, you changed your name recently but i am so glad you raised your hand here. isabella richmond, the first freedom center a very valued drafter and came from richmond to join us this morning. thank you so much isabella for your participation in this project. again what makes this statement particularly valuable is that it has been trebly attracted not only by a group that is quite the first in religious terms but the also the verse liukin in terms of representatives. indeed some on the drafting committee are actually on opposite sides of church-state litigation with some regularity. the drafting committee for the stake includes for example a former staff member of the aclu and current staff member of the american central one justice colby lay pandith experts like