Gilbert Arenas was among the NBA's biggest stars in his prime, but that prime was short-lived.
Despite falling to the 31st pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, it didn't take Arenas long to make a name for himself. He was named the league's Most Improved Player in his sophomore season. He then earned the first of three straight All-Star selections in his fourth season.
That could've been the start of a Hall of Fame career, but injuries and off-court incidents saw him go from getting MVP votes to being out of the league in the blink of an eye.
How good was Arenas and what led to his quick downfall? Let's take a closer look.
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How good was Gilbert Arenas?
Arenas peaked as one of the most explosive scorers in the NBA.
In 2005-06, Arenas scored a career-best 29.3 points per game. The only players who averaged more than him that season were LeBron James (31.4), Allen Iverson (33.0) and Kobe Bryant (35.4). He followed that up by averaging 28.4 points per game in 2006-07, a season that saw him earn his highest finish in MVP voting (8th).
Arenas delivered some of the most memorable moments of his career that 2006-07 season.
On Dec. 17, 2006, he scored a career-high and franchise-record 60 points in an overtime win over Bryant and the Lakers. He recorded 16 points alone in overtime, setting an NBA record that stood for a decade.
A month later, Arenas exploded for 51 points and hit a game-winning 3-pointer against the Jazz. (He also had a 54-point game between those performances.)
According to Basketball Reference, that was one of five game-winner buzzer-beaters Arenas made in his career, putting him behind Michael Jordan (9), Joe Johnson (8), Bryant (8), James (7) and Paul Pierce (7) for the most all-time. That's pretty dang impressive considering all five of them came in a three-year span. It's no wonder that he became known for his late-game heroics.
Arenas only ever made it out of the first round of the playoffs once, but he led the Wizards to three straight postseason appearances, the first of which snapped an almost decade-long drought for the franchise.
Stylistically, Arenas was ahead of his time in many ways. He was a shifty score-first point guard who lived at the 3-point line and free throw line. He was also a big guard at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, giving him a similar build as Victor Oladipo and Marcus Smart. He would've been right at home in today's NBA.
"Imagine John Wall with like Damian Lillard's jump shot," Richard Jefferson once said of Arenas. "That is the best way to describe the combination because Gilbert was shooting from 30 feet back in the day, but he was then also a blur in transition."
Gilbert Arenas nicknames: Agent Zero, Hibachi
Arenas owned not one, but two of the most iconic nicknames in the history of the sport.
He wore No. 0 for the first nine years of his career and earned the moniker Agent Zero in part because of his number but also due to his lethal shot-making ability. At the height of his stardom in the mid 2000s, Arenas reached as high as 8th for most popular jersey.
Arenas also went by 'Hibachi' but not for the reason you might think.
While many believe Arenas earned (gave himself?) that nickname for his offensive outbursts, he actually explained that it came from himself getting cooked on the defensive end. Earlier in 2022 on the No Chill podcast, Arenas admitted that the beloved nickname came from getting scored on.
What happened to Gilbert Arenas?
Arenas' career took a quick turn following the 2006-07 season. A torn meniscus in his left knee limited him to 13 games in 2007-08. He then appeared in two games in 2008-09 due to lingering knee issues.
Arenas showed flashes of his former self to start the 2009-10 season, but he was suspended indefinitely by NBA commissioner David Stern after he brought guns into Washington's locker room and made light of the incident.
Though he returned the following season, Arenas was out of the NBA two years later at the age of 30.
Short-lived as his prime was, Arenas is still one of the more accomplished second-round picks in NBA history. He earned three All-Star selections, one All-NBA Second Team selection and two All-NBA Third Team selections in addition to winning a Most Improved Player award.
Then there's the money. According to Basketball Reference, Arenas made a total of $163.4 million in his NBA career.
Gilbert Arenas career stats, highlights
- 20.7 points per game
- 5.3 assists per game
- 3.9 rebounds per game
- 1.6 steals per game
- 3.2 turnovers per game
- 35.1 minutes per game
- 42.1 percent shooting
- 35.1 percent 3-point shooting
- 80.3 percent free throw shooting
