Arenas says "I'd score 84 or 85" on Duke

It's no secret that lots of professional athletes play with a chip on their shoulder. After being passed up by every NFL team, New York Giants LB Antonio Pierce carries a list of all linebackers taken in the draft that year. Whoever's not in the league anymore, their name gets crossed off. Despite going undrafted, he has very limited company from that once lengthy list. This act of vengeance is being far surpassed by Wizards star Gilbert Arenas. Coach Mike Kryzewski and his staff on Team USA left Arenas off the team competing at the World Championships last summer. In response, Arenas has sworn revenge on those assistants, namely Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and Trailblazers coach Nate McMillan.

Let me preface the following with this: the call and response trash talking between D'Antoni and Arenas is some of the most clever banter I've seen. After D'Antoni wondered aloud how Arenas would do against Kryzewski's Blue Devils, the Wizards star answered back in a blog on nba.com:

"He'd like to see what I'm going to do against Duke. I thought it was funny because if I have the chance to go back to college, I'll give up one NBA season to play against Duke. One college game that's five fouls, right? ... 40-minute game at Duke, they got soft rims I'd probably score 84 or 85. I wouldn't pass the ball. I wouldn't even think about passing it. It would be like a NBA Live or an NBA 2K7 game, you just shoot with one person."

First of all, tremendous credit to D'Antoni for his unbelieveable creativity in asserting "He's gonna kill Duke." With this little retort, he managed to poke fun at the absurdity of Arenas desire to get back at men who "wronged" him without directly lashing out at him. Since players with Arenas' personality will never avoid a chance for some media attention, he took the bait. He managed to arrogantly, yet with such a matter of fact tone, demonstrate how confident he is in his abilities. It's a bit unsettling how much Arenas wants to get back at Coach K and staff, but his underdog mentality has led to monstrous on-court results this season.

Some sports "purists" hate stories like these, but the fact remains that the sports industry lies in the same bed as the entertainment world. It's stars are celebrities and America is consumed by the lure of entertainers. End zone celebrations, media trash-talking, and larger than life stars all come with the territorry. Almost all sports networks make it a point to prove the entertainment value of the teams they cover. Playful spats in the media, such as the one between Arenas and D'Antoni, are inevitable with the amount of time players and coaches spend catering to all media forums. It is at least refreshing to see one with wit and ingenuity.