Team success or individual glory? Most players would claim to desire the latter because that’s the more politically correct option. However, Gilbert Arenas has never been one to worry about political correctness.
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The three-time NBA All-Star confessed that he would go for individual glory over team success on any given day.
On a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, he got into this discussion with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. Both Barnes and Jackson have been with championship-winning teams, so it wasn’t surprising that they chose rings over MVP titles.
As per Barnes, the MVP title doesn’t necessarily go to the best player in the league, it goes to the best player of the team with the best record. On the other hand, a championship can only go to the team that has played the best basketball in the league.
However, in Gil’s interpretation, an MVP title isn’t about the best player, it’s about the ‘Most Valuable Player.’
He said, “I’m taking the Most Valuable Player. There’s 450 people, I am the Most Valuable Player. On that ring…it’s like the Wu-Tang Clan out there. It’s about 15 of you mother****rs out there.”
Although Gil couldn’t win an MVP title in his career, he had a speech ready with a list of people he’d have thanked- God, family, and his teammates. The former Washington Wizard claimed that the MVP was the more exclusive title, because the championship rings are presented to all the members of a team, even those who didn’t play for a single second.
Moreover, the MVP is also the biggest guarantor of a big-shot contract in the league. The most valuable player in the world’s best basketball league deserves a contract that stands out. On the other hand, many players of a Championship roster get traded merely days after winning the chip.
MVPs or Championships?! 🤔 @allthesmokeprod debates the crew pic.twitter.com/TBrlNNh2uc
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) February 21, 2025
This isn’t the first time when Gil has weighed in on the topic. He has always believed that individual accomplishments mean more than simply being part of a team that wins trophies. His go-to example on this topic is Robert Horry. Big Shot Rob is a seven-time NBA Champion, but he was never the key player on any of those championship runs.
Gil says that he’d rather have a career like James Harden and make $300 million without a ring than be a Robert Horry with seven rings and $50 million. There are some other names he has referred to in the past while talking on the same subject.
“Who wants to be BJ Armstrong? Kurt Rambis?… Nobody trains to become Kurt Rambis. Ron Harper? He was good with the Clippers, went to the Bulls – accessory…Randy fu**** Brown. He got three rings. Them three years, he averaged two, four, and four.…. You want to be Devean George?” he once said on Gil’s Arena.
So Arenas is not remorseful about not winning a Championship, that’s for sure.
