Having played in the NBA for eleven years Gilbert Arenas averaged more than 20 points per game. The prolific scorer recently on his podcast, ‘Gil’s Arenas’, looked back at his style of play and compared it with that of Indian Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
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Arenas talked about being an impactful player in the league, however, identified himself as a scorer rather than an assist-man. He then described how the Indian Pacers guard has both aspects to his game.
“Like, I was impactful on that getting a bucket, but when you talk about the whole game itself, he seems like he is more impactful than I was. Mine was just scoring. His is putting the ball in the basket and getting the ball to a bunch of sorry players around. See, I wasn’t passing to the worries.”
“When you’re talking about the whole game itself, he’s more impactful than I was. Mine was just scoring.”
Gilbert Arenas speaks on how Tyrese Haliburton impacts winning pic.twitter.com/NJ2GupJqhx
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) December 18, 2023
The Wizards’ former guard referred to his game as selfish, as he mentioned not passing to his teammates who weren’t as talented. Haliburton, on the other hand, is playing with a rebuilding roster but seems to play the game the right way. He not only does the bulk of the scoring but also gets his teammates good shots. Arenas acknowledges this quality of the young player’s game and gives him flowers for being more impactful.
The young Pacers player has been stellar this season, averaging 25.7 points and 12 assists per game. He is shooting the ball at 51.5% from the field and 43.5% from the three-point line. Those are MVP-level numbers by the guard who leads the league in assists this season.
Through his performance, he led his team to the Finals of the In-Season Tournament after defeating heavyweights such as the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks. Even though the Indiana Pacers are rebuilding their roster, they sit comfortably at seventh in the Eastern Conference standings.
Gilbert Arenas’ playing style and training methods
Despite being picked as the 31st player in the 2001 NBA draft, Gilbert Arenas quickly up the league in notice with his explosive scoring and ability to get to the basket. Arenas averaged as high as 29 points per game during the 2005-06 season and had three straight All-Star selections. The Wizards guard was known to be a volume scorer from the deep, and this was before the league had transitioned toward perimeter shooting.
However, Arenas was marred by injuries in his career which hampered his ability to achieve any significant accolades. His career was cut short as he last played in the NBA in 2012.
The Wizards’ guard was known to train hard. In an interview, the player narrated a story about training with a ‘Black Ops’ commando trainer. He was agitated because LeBron James got in his head while taking clutch free throws. For someone known to shoot free throws at a high percentage, he wanted to improve his mental strength so that the situation would not repeat itself.
