For any young athlete, making it to their first All-Star team is a huge moment in their career. While very few NBA athletes get to enjoy the All-Star weekend and its festivities, Gilbert Arenas has some advice for any athlete who wants to attend the party without making it into the team.
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In 2021, Arenas sat down with Fubo Sports where he was asked about the All-Star weekend. Arenas, despite being a three-time All-Star, stated that he has never really enjoyed an All-Star weekend. His reasoning behind that was a lesson taken from someone else’s mistake.
Arenas recalled being at Kenny Smith’s party where he saw an NBA athlete trying to “holler” at a girl. Agent Zero said that he would not disclose the name of the athlete because of the embarrassment. He said, “The girl said, ‘Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be working on your game so you can be an All-Star? Trying to holler at girls off a real All-Star’s name.’”
That must have been shocking for everyone who heard the interaction, but Arenas saw an important lesson in it. He said, “I was like, note to self, never come to the All-Star if you don’t make it. That’s what I took away from it.” Arenas believes that celebrating someone else’s success will always carry the possibility of such embarrassment.
A brutal reality check like that prevented Arenas from ever enjoying All-Star weekends. Despite being a three-time All-Star himself, the 42-year-old never got into the festivities for enjoyment. However, this wasn’t the only bad All-Star experience for Agent Zero.
Gilbert Arenas still hates Doc Rivers for his All-Star snub
Arenas is one of the harshest critics of Doc Rivers. The Bucks’ head coach gets put on blast every time he makes a bad judgment or when his team struggles in the league. While Arenas’ job as someone with a platform is to talk about the game, he often makes it ugly when the conversation is about Rivers.
On a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, Arenas acknowledged that the real reason behind that is he still holds his 2006 All-Star snub against Rivers. Gil had a great run that season, averaging 29.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 3.5 rebounds in 80 games. He believed that his second consecutive All-Star appearance was well within reach. However, Rivers not giving him his vote hurt the former NBA star’s chances of getting into the team.
Arenas also tried to bribe Rivers for his vote, but the Bucks head coach didn’t change his mind. Arenas said, “Forgive? That I’m the third-leading scorer and I sent him a fruit basket. He’s talking edible raisins, I did my part, I used my credit card.” For this reason, he will always hold a grudge against the veteran coach.
