“Didn’t Get in My Car for Week-and-a-Half”: Gilbert Arenas Speaks About How the NBA Gambling Scandal Left Him Terrified

Gilbert Arenas was arrested back in June for being involved in an illegal high-stakes poker ring. That’s why, when news broke of the NBA’s betting scandal recently, most fans assumed that he was involved as well. But he wasn’t connected to the case at all. Regardless, he got paranoid over whether or not the Italian Mafia would still come after him just for being associated in any way. 

Arenas joined Matt Barnes on All The Smoke in his most recent media appearance. They talked about a litany of topics, but by far the most interesting was when the NBA’s gambling scandal came up. 

Arenas talked about how he was involved in “snitching” rumors with the entire scandal because of his case. Despite it being completely separate, he couldn’t dodge the accusations from fans. So, being the playful personality that he is, he leaned into the rumors and posted a photo of himself holding a bag that was labeled “Informant Lunch.” Some patented, good ol’ ‘Agent Zero’ trolling from the former guard. 

However, as the case got more serious, Arenas shared that he got genuinely scared once he realized that the Mafia was involved in the NBA betting scandal. 

“I didn’t realize how serious that was. And then once I realized how serious it was, it kind of scared me,” Arenas shared. “I’ve watched Datelines, and I watch all this mob s**t. So, I’ll be watching, like, okay, they got in an argument at a restaurant, the next day the restaurant blew up. Whew! Okay, the car blew up. Whew! Okay, so they’re serious about their business.”

Nobody really needs to be enlightened on just how brutal the Mafia can be. After all, they’ve been operating since the early 1800s. But once he realized the waters that he had trudged into, Arenas took his safety measures to the extreme. 

“I didn’t get in my car for like a week and a half,” Arenas stated. “Hell no!”

In a case like this, it’s better safe than sorry. The former NBA vet also deleted the post. Although Arenas was later able to get a hold of someone involved with the criminal underworld. According to him, his name isn’t involved with the Mafia whatsoever. So, he should be in the clear. 

It’s a good lesson to never joke about being involved with a gang of any kind. Arenas was just messing around, but the playful Instagram post got into his own head, as he was paranoid enough not to get in his car for over a week. The joke isn’t worth the hassle sometimes.