Gilbert Arenas thought it was an old video. It couldn’t be, he thought, that Ja Morant could have done the same thing so soon after his guilt. Not with everything that was at stake.

“Once I knew it was something new, I had nothing more to say,” Arenas, a former Washington Wizards star, said, adding, “The fact that you keep wanting to do what you do means you have to want to Look how invincible you think you are.”

Morant, a 23-year-old defenseman for the Memphis Grizzlies, has come under fire for the second time in just over two months for a social media video of him playfully but recklessly brandishing a gun in public. The NBA checked out the first video in March but is still investigating the second, which went viral over the weekend. Morant apologized on Tuesday.

Arenas, 41, can relate better than anyone to Morant’s turmoil. In the 2009-10 season, the NBA suspended him for 50 games for bringing a gun into his team’s locker room and mocking the situation by making handgun gestures during a game while the league was still investigating. Arenas, who by then had been named to three All-Star teams, said he had problems in a space where he felt comfortable – perhaps too comfortable.

“It’s different for me because I don’t have problems in my daily life,” Arenas said. “I have problems at work. The invisible cloud I thought I had is gone.”

Morant’s troubles have played out on social media, where he has millions of followers and much more of his career and the NBA is at stake. made his jersey one of the league’s best sellers. This year, Morant launched his first signature shoe with Nike and directed the new Powerade ad campaign. He was poised to become one of the young stars the NBA is counting on to propel the league forward after the departures of LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Now all this is under threat.

Two videos. Two apologies, each promising a better Morant.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver suspended Morant for eight games after the first video and said in an interview with ESPN on Tuesday that he was “shocked” when he saw the second. It’s unclear if Morant has broken any laws, but Silver, as he did in March, could have him suspended for behavior deemed detrimental to the league. The Grizzlies, who were eliminated from the playoffs last month, suspended Morant from the team indefinitely.

“He did a disservice not only to himself, but to the franchise,” said Larry Parnell, director of the George Washington University Strategic Public Affairs Program. “And I think people take it more personally than politicians or actors who misbehave.”

He explained why: “If you’re a celebrity and you make films and I don’t like what you do, I’m not emotionally attached to your film, but to the Celtics. I’m emotionally attached to the Grizzlies.

Arenas said his situation contrasted with Morant’s because he was more aware of being a public figure and acted accordingly, such as not wearing flashy jewelry in public to avoid being mugged. “I realized that I was crazy,” said Arenas.

However, Arenas’ gun incident overshadowed the rest of his NBA career, which lasted only two seasons, due in part to injuries. He was considered immature.

“I think it’s influenced – I don’t even want to talk about heritage – my name,” said Arenas, who co-hosts the “No Chill” podcast for Fubo Sports. “It affected it very badly. I said that when my biggest disappointment was doing 100 things right. I did one wrong thing and that’s all everyone remembers. That’s what really hurts you the most“.

There were other cautionary tales about star athletes and guns. Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in 2008 at a Manhattan nightclub less than a year after catching the Giants’ Super Bowl game-winning touchdown. He spent almost two years in prison and his career never recovered. In March, he was asked about Morant in an interview on “cardboard show“.

“If I spoke to him, it would be just, ‘If you can’t learn anything, learn from me,’” Burress said. “Just make the best decisions because you really don’t want this label to move forward considering it’s so young. He has the opportunity to become the face of the NBA. He is a great player and you want him to continue to see him mature as a person as his game gets better.”

A negative reputation is hard to shake, and reactions to Morant’s behavior have been mixed. JJ Redick, an ESPN analyst and former NBA player, argued, like many others, that Morant should not be severely punished unless he broke the law. Charles Barkley, a TNT analyst and former NBA player, spoke out about Morant, saying there are different rules for public figures. Nike did not respond to a request for comment, but Morant’s shoes no longer appear in search results for his name on nike.com. A Powerade spokesperson said the company had “no update” on Morant’s contract.

Arenas Lost contract with Adidas for shoes because of the gun incident. He also pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a weapon and was sentenced to 30 days in the Halfway House. That was over ten years ago, but Arenas has become a voice when athletes get into trouble. However, in November, the Wizards honored him with a framed jersey at halftime at “Revival Night.”

“We’re all throwing the word, ‘Be responsible for your actions,'” Arenas said. “But are we really letting this person be held responsible? When we see, “Well, he never touched a gun again.” He never showed the same behavior to want to be near a weapon. Never looked at weapons. Why do you keep reminding the world that he did it?

“We want a person to change their behavior, but we don’t want to accept it when they do.”