Another day, another controversy for Gilbert Arenas. It has now become a norm for the former NBA star to say things that don’t sit right with a lot of people. In the latest instance, Celtics’ Payton Pritchard decided to give him a piece of his mind about his recent comments about his presence on the court.
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During the livestream of a game between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, Arenas expressed his disappointment with Drew Peterson, who wears #13 for the Cs, for not going for a layup during a play. Peterson instead passed the ball to Jayson Tatum, who was open for a corner three attempt.
Arenas followed it up with some comments against Pritchard as well, the #11 for the Celtics.
He said, “That’s how I know the game sucks. There’s no way in f***in’ hell you can have 11 and 13 in the same game…Look at 13, look how he walks. Oh, he walks like, ‘Score, please. On me…My daddy gave me tickets to the game and they just let me in.’”
Pritchard caught wind of this insult and responded via his Instagram stories. He wrote, “Why can’t 11 and 13 be in the game?? Just curious.”
The Celtics star obviously called out Arenas for trying to imply that two white men can’t be on the floor for the same team simultaneously.
https://twitter.com/WatchPlayback/status/1864388574101000535?t=D00JZ1ViwyNUc_NxDLdKkw&s=08
But this wasn’t the end of it, as Jay King, Celtics reporter for The Athletic, later asked Pritchard for a comment on Arenas’ insult. The 26-year-old stated that he used to be a fan of the three-time All-Star, so it’s disappointing to see him talk like this. Pritchard also felt like Arenas was targeting him and Peterson due to the color of their skin.
He said, “It’s definitely disappointing talking about something people can’t change, the color of their skin. So the work that Drew puts in, that I put in, I don’t know, you just don’t want to see that… When you’re a fan of somebody growing up, and for them to make comments like that, it can be disappointing.”
I asked Payton Pritchard last night about Arenas’ comments: “Well, first of all, I really liked Gilbert as a player and I respected his game. I was a fan growing up. So when you see somebody that you’re a fan of growing up and then they make comments like that. It’s definitely… https://t.co/Q48OneEM4p
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 5, 2024
As bad as it is, this doesn’t even scratch the surface of everything Arenas has said about players over the years. During the pre-Olympic warmups, the 42-year-old directed a racist rant at the South Sudanese team following their narrow loss against Team USA. “They don’t even have shoes — they get their shoes from America! We gotta ship them shoes,” he said.
While he is a well-respected former athlete, his stint in the media is marred with such controversies. Arenas is yet to respond to the clapback from Pritchard.
