The already notorious image of Gilbert Arenas on his knees, fingers on both hands cocked as he pretended to shoot a group of laughing teammates has been removed from the Getty Image archives.

"The image was pulled from our site because of the NBA," Getty official Cynthia Edorh said. "Legally, the NBA has the right to pull any of their images as part of the contract with Getty."

The Washington Post and ESPN both displayed the image prominently on Wednesday.

In exchange for the NBA's business, Getty exercises no editorial control over the pictures it transmits to the media. That allows league officials to shape, and sometimes protect, the sport's image, given Getty's global reach and the media's considerable appetite for photos.

The picture "was shot by one of the NBA's photographers," said Bridget Russel, another Getty spokesperson. "Getty Images does not own the rights to this image, we are merely the distributor. We did honor the NBA's request to take down the image. They reconsidered, and the photo was restored live to our site at approximately 3:30 p.m."

Apparently, Getty officials weren't the only ones who pushed back. NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league made the photo available after Tuesday night's Wizards game, but "it was taken down because we thought the actions depicted in the photo were insensitive given the circumstances. Upon the request of news organizations, we made the photo available for their editorial use and it will remain available."