In the most recent episode of the podcast No Chill Gil, Gilbert Arenas discussed the much-debated topic of whether to choose a big paycheck or NBA rings. Adding his two cents on this debate, Arenas chose to rather earn $300,000,000 from NBA contracts than win championship titles. Through these statements, Arenas is trying to shoot subtle jabs at Stephen Jackson and Shaquille O’Neal, who rather chose NBA rings than a huge payday.
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Gilbert Arenas himself never has won a ring during his time playing in the league. However, while playing for the Washington Wizards and the Orlando Magic, Williams earned more than $80,000,000 from both of these contract as a role player for these teams. Hence, with his own experience, it’s thus proven how Gilbert Arenas genuinely stands by his statement.
Gilbert Arenas argues that winning big paycheck in the NBA is greater than winning a championship
Gilbert Arenas made a controversial statement on his podcast, speaking about the importance winning a championship holds for him. Calling those who run for championships as losers, Arenas mentioned how players who shy away from big contracts have a loser mentality. However, he mentions Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O’Neal, and Tim Duncan to be exceptions in this case. These players, as Arenas said, had both championships and seemingly large amount of money.
“It was either whether you would have Robert ‘Bob’ big shot career $50 million, or James Harden $300,000,000. Me? No brainer, $300…$300,000,000, I will take that all day.”
With his case, Gil Arenas was trying to subtly dig at Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Jackson, who would value a championship over money. Jackson, who once played as a journeyman for the San Antonio Spurs, had the highlight of his career when he won the NBA championship ring in 2003. However, through his career, Jackson could only earn a meagre $50,000,000 from his NBA contracts.
Agent Zero further used the example of players such as Carmelo Anthony, James Harden, Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson. All of these players are stars of the NBA. But interestingly, they fall under an interesting league of never having won a chip in their career. But despite such a lack of achievement in their resumes, these players were still the stars who could carry the mantle of their respective franchises.
Through the majority of the first half of his podcast, Gil’s shots were all aimed at Stephen Jackson. Jackson had recently stated that he would choose his 2003 NBA chip over $50,000,000 career earnings all day. Criticizing Jackson’s remark, Agent Zero regarded such a mentality as a loser mindset, for not being able to contribute significantly to one’s team’s championship run. Definitely, Gil can say all of this off experience, which does make this case an interesting one.
Gilbert Arenas is known for his hot takes on his podcast
Gilbert Arenas always had the affinity towards giving hot NBA takes on his podcast. And almost every time, his predictions in some way or other seemed to make sense. His take on the bag vs. ring argument is quite valid, given how much it fits in case of his own career.
Arena’s played majority of his career at two teams- the Washington Wizards and the Orlando Magic. In his seven seasons and four seasons at Wizards and Magic, Arenas made $82,061,546, and $80,154,460, which adds a major chunk to his career earnings of $163,475,636, as per Spotrac. Therefore, Agent Zero definitely had substance about what he was saying on his podcast.
