One of the unfortunate aspects that ricocheted off this Javaris Crittenton fiasco is the spotlight it reset on the 2009 Washington locker room gun debacle. It isn’t fair. The two have nothing in common, except one of the characters involved, and of course guns. It was a dark episode, but by this point, one that was somewhat forgotten.
That incident was a tipping point for Gilbert Arenas. Since, his off-court antics – what he says on Twitter, the stuff he does – have dwarfed his actual play in attention.
When Arenas first entered Arizona in 1999, the memories are vague. I do remember ‘Zona was coming off a recent NCAA championship run, but had lost all five starters to graduation or the NBA. In stepped an all-freshmen backcourt, Jason Gardner and Arenas. The minute I heard the name Arenas I was a fan. Seeing that he could play was good and all, but it was the unique last name that hooked me. You ever get that feeling when you initially discover someone? You find out their name and think, “Damn, that’s a future star’s name.” That’s what Arenas did for me.
He resurfaced again during his second season with the Warriors. 2002 happened to be one of the first years that I had NBA League Pass, so I did what any normal basketball fan would do: watch those teams that I never got to before. Golden State almost always tipped at 10:30, and they weren’t exactly loaded with national TV appearances. But between a backcourt of Arenas (with the mini ‘fro) and Jason Richardson, there was no team I checked out more often. Never a quarter went by without a SportsCenter top 10 highlight. Very few people really seemed to notice Arenas. He might’ve been one of the best young guards in the game, but during the few chances he had on the national spotlight, it felt like he was J-Rich’s younger brother, always dishing instead of finishing (remember the dunk contests?).
Arenas hadn’t yet taken off into the celebrity that would engulf him once he moved to Washington, but he was playing freely in a system that catered to his game. He was fun to watch.
In Washington, there were moments… like the playoff battle with LeBron, the 54-point game in Phoenix, the 60-pointer and the long list of game-winners. As quickly as it all came, it left.
Will Arenas ever get back to what he once was? At nearly 30 years old, that’s probably not happening. Hopefully, he can regain some role on a championship team because when he was on, no Hibachi was cooking faster.
What is your favorite basketball moment from Arenas?
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