Gilbert Arenas

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Gilbert Jay Arenas (born January 6, 1982 in Los Angeles, California) is a professional basketball player of Cuban and African-American descent currently with the NBA's Washington Wizards.

Contents

1 Rise to prominence
2 2005-06 NBA season
3 Player profile
4 Gilbertology
5 Awards/honors
6 Trivia
7 External links

Rise to prominence

Both a point guard and shooting guard, Arenas previously played for the Golden State Warriors, who drafted him in the second round (31st overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft out of the University of Arizona. Although the Warriors did not enjoy much team success during Gilbert's tenure with them, he quickly established himself as one of the league's bright young talents. In 2003, his second year in the league, Gilbert was selected to receive the NBA Most Improved Player Award. After that season was one of the most sought after free agents of the NBA off season. Gilbert signed as a free agent with the Washington Wizards, reportedly after flipping a coin ten times to decide between the Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers. After the coin came up seven times in the Clippers favor, Gilbert knew he had to sign with Washington.

Arenas had a disappointing first season with the Wizards, battling a strained abdominal muscle injury all season. Gilbert enjoyed great success in his second season in Washington. He teamed up with shooting guard Larry Hughes (22.0 points per game) in 2004-05 to give the Wizards the highest scoring backcourt duo in the NBA and was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game. He guided the team to a 45-win season and its first playoff berth since 1998. Arenas led the team in scoring with 25.5 ppg, and finished seventh in the league in that category. He also finished sixth in the league in steals per game in 2004-05 with 1.74 (Hughes led the league with 2.89 steals per game).

Known for his fierce competitiveness, strong work ethic, and somewhat unusual behavior, Arenas quickly became a fan favorite in Washington (an example of his quirky behavior includes during a regular season game, his attempt to make a free-throw by bouncing his shot off the floor, which missed badly and drew confused stares as people wondered if it was an actual free-throw attempt). In the fifth game of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2005, Gilbert hit a 16-foot fadeaway as time expired to give the Wizards a 112-110 victory over the Kirk Hinrich-led Chicago Bulls [link].

2005-06 NBA season

-->Arenas had a career year during the 2005-06 season in which he averaged 29.2 points, which ranked fourth among the scoring leaders, two steals (also fourth), and 6.1 assists per game.  Despite his accomplishments, neither fans nor coaches would select Arenas to the 2006 All-Star Game.  He was able to get in due to the injury to Indiana Pacers forward/center Jermaine O'Neal. Since then, he has been averaging 31 ppg on 48 percent shooting, about 2.5 steals per game, and 6.7 assists per game. Additionally, he was also able to get in to the Three-point Shootout because Phoenix Suns guard Raja Bell was excused due to a family illness. Arenas was the runner up to Dirk Nowitzki in the contest [link].

On February 25, 2006, Arenas scored 46 points in less than 30 minutes, setting the NBA record for the most points scored in 30 minutes or fewer of playing time since the 24-second shot clock was implemented in 1954. He has put up twelve 40-point games and forty three 30-point games this season [link].

During the offseason, Arenas said that he was willing to take a pay cut in order to give the Wizards additional money to sign available free agents with. He has expressed a desire to win a championship with Washington [link].

Player profile

Arenas is a prototype "shoot-first pass-second" point guard. He is a highly gifted scorer who is able to score at a clip of almost 30 points per night (2005-06 regular season average: 29.3), often using his trademark slashing drives to the basket as well as his long-range jumpshot. He is also one of the best ball thieves in the NBA, currently 2nd in the steals category with 161 (as of May 6).

Arenas' critics point out his limited playmaking ability. His assists per game lifetime average is an unremarkable 5.4, and moreover, he is very turnover-prone, as his lifetime TO rate of 3.35 per game proves (he also "leads" the 2006 TO statistics with 3.71). In addition, his defensive game is still considered average (he has yet to be elected into an All-Defensive Team).

However, in spite of that, he is currently lauded as one of the best point men in the game, as his 2006 Eastern Conference All-Star call-up shows.

Reference: [link]

Gilbertology

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In the Washington area "Gilbertology" is the name given to his often bizarre behavior on and off the court. Before every game he would take a teammate's jersey and hide it in the locker room to make them look for it. Also, Arenas can often be seen playing online poker during half-time of games^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}, instead of resting or preparing for the second half. Gilbert Arenas disputes the accuracy of the story saying he was misquoted. Arenas says he does not play for money nor does he play online. He plays on a DVD game of poker. Once with the Warriors, he took a shower at half time in full uniform [link]. After every game, Arenas takes off his jersey and tosses it to someone in the crowd. He originally tossed his shoes into the crowd, stating that the jersey's were too expensive for him to pay for after every game, once he received a new deal with Washington, and had the money to spend, he began to throw the jersey. Gilbert agreed to become a team captain for the 2005-06 season after declining the previous year because he said that a lot of the time he didn't even believe the things he was saying to his teammates. He has recently been given the nickname "President", and calls himself the "East Coast Assassin".

Awards/honors

2-time NBA All-Star: 2005, 2006
2-time All-NBA:

* Third Team: 2005, 2006

NBA Most Improved Player Award: 2003

2003 All-Star Rookie/Sophomore Game MVP: 2003

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2002

NBA regular-season leader, minutes played: 2006 (3,384)

Holds Washington Wizards franchise record for most three-point field goals made, all-time with 529 (as of the 2005-06 NBA season).

Trivia

Gilbert Arenas wears the number 0 on his jersey because that is how many minutes his critics said he would play for his college team, the University of Arizona. [link] His paternal great-grandfather was originally from Cuba. [link] He also collects jerseys of players, and has over 200 jerseys.

External links

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