Most NBA players experience a sudden change in their lifestyle when they transition into the NBA because their contracts afford them exorbitant amounts of money that they couldn’t even imagine growing up in humble conditions. However, Gilbert Arenas didn’t get to enjoy the feeling of being rich all of a sudden despite signing a $322,817 rookie contract.
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Arenas recently appeared on The Pivot podcast, where he was asked about his experience receiving life-changing money in the NBA. What Arenas said next surprised everyone on the panel. He declared that he was the poorest he had ever been in his rookie year, “My poorest year was my first year in the NBA.”
The three-time All-Star had a few responsibilities at the time and he was living paycheck to paycheck. Arenas revealed that his teammates at the time used to call him, “the lamest rich person.” He added, “I got a girl, I got two dogs, and I’m on like $400 a month. Like, I’m poor. I had to sleep in the gym.”
Arenas believes that he never lacked anything growing up. He always had the cool Jordans and the jerseys he needed. He mentioned that even though his father didn’t have a lot of money, he made sure Gil is well taken care of. That’s why he never felt the brunt of poverty like many kids coming from the projects did.
The three-time All-Star added that for that reason, the rags to riches story doesn’t apply to him.
He also stated that not having enough gas money to go back home during his rookie year made Arenas put more time in the Warriors gym. He said, “I got success very early from hard work.” While the redemption story is surely inspirational, there was a reason why Arenas was struggling so much financially.
He had no money management skills, which led to him being poor despite making good money in the league.
Gilbert Arenas made some poor choices
Before he made it into the NBA, Arenas had high hopes for himself. He believed that he was going to be a first-round pick. If that had been the case, Arenas would’ve received a huge salary from whatever franchise he went to. Anticipating that kind of a purse, he took out a loan and started curating a luxurious lifestyle for himself.
To his shock, Arenas fell into the second round and was the 31st pick by the Warriors. This meant that he wasn’t getting those big bucks. But he already had some bills to pay after his salary came in. During an interview with Bleacher Report in 2019, he said, “What had happened was, I bought my chain, bought my Escalade with the five TVs and the stereo system… I got so mad that I threw the chain I bought out the window; gone.”
The frustration creeping in was only going to make things worse for Agent Zero. Arenas’ talent came to his rescue as he secured a $60 million contract with the Washington Wizards after his third season.
