“When I Used to Cheat I Used to Be Happy to Come Home”: Gilbert Arenas Addresses Matt Barnes’ Alleged ‘8 Women’ Cheating Scandal

Matt Barnes’ alleged cheating scandal became the talk of the town after his fiancée, Anansa Sims, tried to expose him on Instagram. The former NBA star was allegedly having affairs with eight different women in January despite being engaged to Sims. A lot has been said against Barnes’ alleged infidelity since Sims went public with the information. But Gilbert Arenas has a completely different take on it.

Gil is known for making outrageous comments on a wide range of topics. This time, it was no different. The three-time All-Star talked about Barnes’ scandal on No Chill Gil.

Arenas believes that a “side chick” keeps him, and any man for that matter, happy. If that wasn’t outrageous enough coming from a man who got married last December, he doubled down on it in the following sentence. Gil said, “When I used to cheat, I used to be happy to come home.” He claimed that having a “side chick” helped him sustain his past relationship.

Agent Zero then went on to explain how not having a “side chick” takes a toll on a man. He said, “When you don’t got no side chicks and you coming home. You be like…be sitting in the car for about an hour.”

Gil is married to French social media influencer Melli Monaco. They got engaged in July 2024 and got married on December 12. Arenas revealed that he picked that specific date for his marriage to honor the late, great Kobe Bryant.

However, Arenas admitted that he has given up cheating because many women nowadays like to kiss and tell. But he might have to give Monaco a better explanation after the claims he made on the show.

It’s highly likely that Gil said everything in jest, as he likes to joke around. However, the NBA and professional sports, in general, are no strangers to infidelity, with Barnes being the most recent example.

His fiancée, Sims, posted the names and Instagram handles of all the women she believed were involved with Barnes last month.

Matt Barnes’ fiancée drops the names of 8 people he allegedly cheated on her with in January alone pic.twitter.com/7qU5x9lnMg

— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) January 31, 2025

One of the most shocking revelations was that Barnes was having an affair with two of those women for six and seven years, respectively. The All the Smoke host has been with Sims for seven years and they have two children together. Their first son, Ashton, was born in 2018 and they welcomed their second son, Austin, last year. The former NBA star is yet to comment on the alleged cheating scandal.