In an era when NBA players dreamed of teaming up with Michael Jordan, teenage Gilbert Arenas was indifferent. Agent Zero even famously refused to pass the ball to the Black Jesus when the opportunity of playing alongside him presented itself on a silver platter.
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On the Above the Rim podcast, he recalled the details of this incident from the 1999 Jordan Camp. The 42-year-old recounted how MJ selected him as a teammate out of nearly 30 attendees. Arenas initially thought this meant Jordan was aware of his high school heroics. However, he soon found out how mistaken he was.
Arenas realized that Jordan was only selecting players he perceived as poor shooters. It was MJ’s strategy to ensure he received most of the ball during offensive plays.
This observation made Arenas feel slighted. He consequently took matters into his own hands. The Florida-born deliberately stopped passing the ball to Jordan. Instead, he relied on his shooting prowess to put points on the scoreboard.
“Jordan, you know, picking the team, he was like, ‘You’. He picked me cause, it’s Jordan in ’99… So, it’s me, [Brian] Scalabrine, Sean Lampley. [Players] who don’t shoot, so Jordan gets to be Jordan against the rest of the camp… I guess Jordan thought I was one of them. Let’s go. Shot that b***h crazy. Didn’t pass to MJ,” he said, recalling his experience from that day.
Arenas was fortunately able to lead his six-man roster to victory. He finally got what he had initially hoped for – Jordan‘s acknowledgment. Although MJ eventually gave it to him, he coated his words with a pinch of salt.
Agent Zero recounted that Jordan had approached him after the game. The latter intentionally built up his hopes by comparing him to a former NBA teammate. Ultimately, MJ kicked the 3x All-Star in the knee by likening Arenas to Randy Brown.
“After the game, he was like, ‘Yo, you remind me of one of my teammates’… He was probably talking about himself in the third person and he said, ‘Randy Brown’. I got so mad.”
This marked the beginning of their historically intertwined careers. For context, the Washington Wizards chose a third-year Arenas as the successor to a retired MJ in 2003. He took the reins and elevated the franchise to heights even Jordan couldn’t.
