"If you give Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant those Cavs teams, they wouldn't have made the playoffs": Gilbert Arenas on facing a 21-year old LeBron James in 2006

Gilbert Arenas shares his experience of facing LeBron James in the first round of the 2006 playoffs. LeBron led Cleveland Cavaliers to beat Gilbert’s Washington Wizards by 4-2.

The first-round rivalry between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference was a thing back in 2006-08. A 21-year old LeBron James made it to the playoffs for the first time in 2006.

He faced Gilbert Arenas‘ Washington Wizards, which was on a rise back then. Even with a prime Agent Zero, the Wizards fell short in front of LBJ’s greatness. Arenas witnessed the basketball intelligence of James first-hand.

In an interview with Vlad TV, Gilbert said,

“going into the series, we got outsmarted by somebody [LeBron] we didn’t really think about. We didn’t know how intelligent, how he moved pieces around”.

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The first round rivalry

LeBron’s Cavaliers met Wizards three times in a row in the first round. All the three times, the Cavaliers beat them, 4-2 in 2006, 4-0 in 2007, and 4-2 in 2008. Gilbert was at the peak of his powers in the first two series.

In the 2005-06 season, he averaged 29.3 points, 6.1 assists, and 2 steals. In the playoffs, he averaged 34 points in 6 games. But the Wizard’s magic was not enough. James recorded a triple-double in the very first game with 32 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds.

James averaged 35.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists that series. But game 6 of that series was a hard-fought battle, as the game went to overtime. Gilbert scored 36 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds. To which LeBron answered with 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists performance.

Last year, Gilbert had said that LeBron is the G.O.A.T. He said,

“I feel LeBron is the G.O.A.T. It’s because, during pressure time, he still makes the actual right decision”. He further added, ” if you give Jordan and Kobe those Cavs teams, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs”.