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Gilbert Arenas says that Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum both told him that they had been dealing with calf issues before tearing their Achilles: “Even with Jayson Tatum when I asked him about the achilles — and Dame — [I asked] was your calf hurting before? And they both said yes”
On a recent episode of his “Gil’s Arena” podcast, Arenas shared his theory on why the Knicks have taken such an unusual approach. The former Washington Wizards star called it a “smart” strategy to lay the groundwork for Jalen Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson, to be named the team’s next head coach. “You’re coach is right here, it’s [Jalen Brunson’s] father. But you can’t just give him the job. What you’re doing is, you’re offering a job to people that already got a job, knowing what the answer is,” Arenas said of the Knicks’ coaching search. “So you’re pretending for the world that you’re actually looking for [a new head coach], and then you’re going to ‘settle’ for Rick. ‘Ah, we couldn’t find anybody. Everybody rejected the job, so we’re just going to give it to Rick.’ Y’all are slick!”
NIL deals are forcing prospects to Rethink the NBA according to Gilbert Arenas as Gil & The Gil's Arena Crew react to the lowest number of entrants ever being submitted to the NBA Draft and break down how NIL Deals are giving college prospects reason to rethink going pro with the insane amount of money being handed out to college superstars like Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Gilbert Arenas: Here's the real problem. If there's a problem is that these kids have agents. These agents are saying, "All right, jump into the portal without no guarantees" without no guarantees from anyone. You’re thinking you're going to this school and you got this negotiation. Somebody else jumped in the portal, took that money, now you're scrambling. So, there's a bunch of kids that are in the portal still with nowhere to go. Can't go back to the school. No teams are looking for them. So, they're just stuck because they jumped into the portal because it was a hot thing to do.
Gilbert Arenas on All-Star Game: Nikola Jokic probably would never go hard because the game how it's played goes out of his hand. He can't control it the way he play. So for him, he's probably not gonna go as hard as he does for Denver. But the issue is this: Until the game venue starts taking a hit from the fan base, there's nothing going to change. See, if 25,000 people that know no one's going to play hard is showing up, them kids. It's a kid thing. It's a festival. This is a festival. The kids, they're here having fun seeing all the stars at one place. That's what it really It's a festival. Yeah. Taking pictures, getting That's all. Right. What you can do is you have a choice to watch it or not. That's your choice, right? Just like it's their choice for me to spend $10,000 for a seat knowing that they're not going to play hard. That hasn't changed yet. It's still sold out every city. People are driving from city to city every time, right? Only people who's complaining is the people who's watching on TV. Don't turn it on.
Gilbert Arenas: Right now, the season is the pitfall for a lot of players. If you're a serious player trying to get better, that's when you do it. What ends up happening is that's when all the drinking starts—because they're traveling. Wives and kids aren't involved from city to city, so that's when the bad habits begin: going out in Miami, late nights, partying, gambling. Players stop taking shots seriously and only show up to maybe get a few shots in. But if you stick to your summer program during the season, you can elevate faster. That’s when you need the most discipline. When I realized that after my first year—by watching everyone’s bad habits—I thought, “Hold on. If I apply my three-a-day program during the NBA season, I can scale faster.” So I decided: I’m only going out once a year. Just once. Whoever throws the best party, that’s the one I’ll go to. I’m not going out in Miami, not going out in New York. I’ll stay disciplined while I’m on the clock. If I want to party, I’ll do it in the summer when I’m off the clock.
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Gilbert Arenas: That’s why I tell young players: if you want to get better and feel like you’re being underestimated, create a system during the season that helps you grow. Don’t fall into the typical NBA routine—practice from this time to that time, maybe return later, then hit the strip club or chicken joint in Atlanta. No. Find your own 24-hour gym. Me? I didn’t even know what the “first bus” was. Never seen it. I knew yellow cabs. Right after practice, I’d take a nap. Then at 2:30 or 3:00, I’d hop in a cab and head to the gym—because I heard Kobe was at the gym at 3:00. And if Kobe, my favorite player, one of the greatest, was doing it, then so was I.
Jason Richardson: And the thing about Gil—it wasn’t forced. Like, he really felt that way. It’s like, 'I’m going to say this'—no, Gil really thought that way. So when he did stuff, it wasn’t to get attention. It was just how he was thinking in the moment. Like when he said, 'I wanted to be a pimp,' and then he doubled down and said, 'I want to be an international pimp'— —and we’re at rookie transition program, bro. We all looking like, 'Yo… you really just said this?' Like, what are you saying? Right? You’re still trying to get your foot in the door. And he’s like, 'That’s crazy. I’m Agent Zero. I’m already in the door.'
Jason Richardson: "We were playing the Nuggets—it’s like two or three minutes into the game. Danny (Fortson) and George McCloud get into it. Boom. Me and Gilbert looking at each other like, 'Yo, what’s going on? This is two minutes into the game. How they already ready to fight?' Techs and everything." "Danny gets pulled out the game. He comes and sits right by me and Gilbert. Then he pulls a razor out of his sock. I’m like, 'Yo… I knew some sh*t was about to go down.' Me and Gilbert looking like, 'Yo… do we gotta protect ourselves right now?!' He had a razor blade in his sock, bro. I kid you not. That’s when I knew things were different back then."
The madness that ultimately sunk Gil appears to have been indivisible from that skill. Everyone who knew him from that era speaks to a monomaniacal worth ethic. Arenas loved being in the gym, endlessly refining his game, and had little bandwidth for taking anything else seriously. The end result was greatness that quickly ended.
Gilbert Arenas on black players getting tattoos: 'If you're Caucasian, you fall into the rock star, David Beckham look'
Gilbert Arenas on black players getting tattoos: ’Big sleeves and stuff, corporate America, them sponsors, the don't f*ck with it still, right? For some reason on our color skins, just be honest, right? If you're Caucasian, you fall into the Rock Star look, the David Beckham, you know what I mean? You fall into that look. But you know, just reality, we're thugs, right? It's still, that's the look of it still. So you have to be careful when you get tats.
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Gilbert Arenas on potential OKC-Indiana Finals: 'Ain't no sponsor sponsoring nothing about us'
Gilbert Arenas: I got the Pacers jersey on and I got to say this out loud. If the Pacers make it to the finals and it's OKC also, just shut that sh*t down. Just sit. Ain't no sponsor sponsoring nothing about us.
Gilbert Arenas: “They never gave me a number for Puff though, right? No. But they gave me Beyoncé's number, and said he’d throw a number so high just to signal he didn’t want to do it. Like, ‘I don’t want to do parties and clubs, but if you give me that number, f** it, I’ll take it.’*” “So they gave me Puff’s contact. I hit Puff up and he charged me $200,000. I used to get charged $200,000.” “Once I got his name as the host, Lil Wayne came, T.I. came. Then I made the party private. Everybody and their mama wanted to be there.” “At the same time, I started doing All-Star voting. That year I overtook Vince Carter for the starting spot in the All-Star Game in Vegas.” “Then I renegotiated with Adidas. I was asking for $2 million, and they ended up giving me $5 million a year.” “All right. So yeah, Diddy talked. I f***ed that off though with the gun situation. But I got that deal first. So that’s the question now—” “Basically, I threw a $2 million party to get $40 million.”
Gilbert Arenas: It’s easier to build a team around European players
Gilbert Arenas: But it just seems like when you get a European player, you’ve got a Swiss Army knife. That’s what I’ve noticed—they can do a lot of things. So it’s easier to build a team around them—besides playing defense. A lot of things, yeah. But the fact is, for the most part—except for Giannis (...) But with Jokic, you can put anybody with him. With Giannis, you can try to figure it out. You don’t need to be the scorer—I can put scorers around you. You’ll still survive. I can put defensive players around you. You’ve got more attributes than an American player who’s just narrowed down to scoring. These guys are scoring, rebounding, passing.
What is your relationship with Javaris at this point? Gilbert Arenas: Um, it’s actually—it’s really good. I mean, it never was—it was never bad, you know. It was never really me versus him, you know? That was my young boy, right?
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