Arenas Ready After Tough Offseason

Real or perceived, tangible or not, slights lurk around every corner for the Washington Wizards' All-Star guard. No matter his accolades, Arenas seems to seek, gather and, yes, cherish affronts, precisely the way he collects autographed NBA jerseys - and he owns hundreds of those, from all sorts of players and eras.

Stop him for a few questions after a training camp practice, and out slides a mention of how that very morning he was reading one person's preseason ranking of top NBA players and was shocked - shocked! - to find himself down at No. 20.

"Duncan's No. 1, Kobe's No. 2. Then they've got all them bums in front of me,'' Arenas said this week, a can-you-believe-it? tone in his voice and mischief in his eyes. "I'm 20; I feel I'm in the top five. There's motivation right there.''

Typical Gil, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan or teammates might say, and they might even laugh or roll their eyes. What they - and fans - are not as accustomed to is Arenas' questioning himself, being the very source of the sort of underestimation that drives the guy.

Yet that is precisely what Arenas did in the weeks right after last season ended prematurely, after he tore up his left knee during a game in April. What he did as he began the arduous workouts needed to return from surgery. What he did knowing full well how crucial that knee is to what he does and what he loves.

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source : NBA.com