Gilbert Arenas Quietly Says Goodbye, Apologizes to Fans

He never said he was sorry. Not really. Not until he was already gone.

That may sound absurd, given the 689-word apology Gilbert Arenas provided the Washington Post last February. But the document clearly drafted by his lawyer, agent, publicist or whomever with input from Arenas was clearly not his own. It was yogurt, which is fine. Arenas had fed the NBA, the Wizards and fans enough poison that he needed to provide something to soothe the stomach.

But he never really asked for forgiveness.

He played the pity card, the morose card, the surly card, the indignant card. He was unhappy, which is to be expected. But he never really said he was sorry, even as fans and the city forgave him. Until Sunday night.

Arenas sent CSN Washington's Chris Miller a series of text messages to say goodbye to the fans. In closing, he gave closure, as he gave what might be the most genuine admission of contrition throughout the past 12 stormy months.

Wizards blog Bullets Forever posted a transcript:

I know it didn't end like I would have liked. I had a great time playing in Washington - they made me feel like a rock star while I was here. I wish I could have took them further than the second round.

I wanna thank Mr. and Mrs. Pollin, Ernie, Eddie, every teammate I went to war with on that basketball court. Thanks [sic.] you for believing in me.

I wanna thank Mr. Leonsis for giving me a chance to regain some basketball respect back in my career, and I hope nothing but the best from him and the Wizards.

Last but not least I want to thank the great fans of Washington. It was an honor playing for you guys for 8 years.

I hope when it's all said and done, I entertained you when you entered those doors at the MCI/Verizon Center and can forgive me as a man for the mistakes I've made.

via Gilbert Arenas thanks Wizards fans for making him "feel like a rockstar" in D.C. - Bullets Forever.

And with that, he was gone.

His last words asking for forgiveness seem very much like Arenas. His head held high as a man, hoping he entertained the fans even if he didn't take them to the promised land.

Arenas is probably happier than he's been in years. His knee's holding up (so far), and now he's on his way to a contender, even if it's in a reserve role. So having a sense of nostalgia is probably easier for him than it is for the fans who watched the Wizards lose in impressively failtastic fashion even for them Saturday night against the Heat. But the effort is there. It wasn't something his people put together, it wasn't damage control. It was what he honestly felt about his time in Washington. You know how you can tell that? He didn't have to do it. He could have walked away, put a nice big ad in the paper, and been done. But instead he chose to send a reporter a message.

Gilbert Arenas, typically bizarre, typically mysterious, typically fascinating. And now gone from Washington, off to try and thrill and confound a whole new fan base as he tries to complete the comeback that went off the rails last year.

Maybe this time when all's said and done, he won't have anything to ask forgiveness for.

More on Gilbert Arenas in Monday's The Works by Bethlehem Shoals and Eric Freeman.