Gilbert Arenas is one of the coldest offensive players in history, but when his career was at its end, he felt like he was on the wrong side of things.
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Arenas was picked in the second round with the 31st pick, but he made the most of his opportunities and rose to become one of the greater scoring threats in the league.
Arenas’ prime came from 2004 to 2007 when he was named to the All-Star game every year, and he averaged 27.7 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 5.7 assists per game on 43.2/36.1/82.6 shooting splits.
Arenas played for several teams during his career, including the Warriors, Wizards, Magic, and Grizzlies. However, he made his name shine for Washington where he was dubbed ‘No Chill Gill’ or ‘Agent Zero’ for his former jersey number and his ability to knock down shots late game, showing he had ‘ice in his veins.’
Gilbert Arenas discusses how he was benched for financial reasons
The Wizards star had a great run during his career, but like every other NBA player, he fizzled out towards the end, and he was relegated to a lesser role.
Arenas discussed on Fubo Sports Network how he was earning a minimum contract worth only $400,000, and he was diminished to coming off the bench. However, in his end, he felt that was unfair.
Arenas was, in his eyes, cooking up the starters in practice. He mentioned an unnamed player who was earning $5 million, $4.6 million more than Gilbert but was playing routinely worse in practice.
Arenas knew that the team had to stick to him because they had given him the money, and the opportunities to perform. They had financially invested in this player, and so, whether it was fair or not, Arenas received the short end of the stick and had to sit it out in practice.
Arenas also mentioned how the whole ordeal eventually led to him crossing over the U.S. and playing overseas basketball which many players do towards the end of their NBA career.
