Gilbert Arenas

About Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (born January 6, 1982, in Tampa, Florida) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA. He currently plays for the Washington Wizards.

From the time of his entry into the league, Arenas's popularity soared. He transformed himself from being a relative unknown to being voted by fans as an All-Star starter for the Eastern Conference in 2007. Arenas overcame a 213,000 vote deficit at one point to edge out Vince Carter by just over 3,000 votes for the second of the two starting guard spots, the other spot going to Dwyane Wade. Arenas was most often nicknamed "Agent Zero," but has increasingly been referred to as "Hibachi," a nod to the small Japanese heating device, which literally translates to "bowl of fire." Both names have quickly become fan favorites in the Washington area.

When he entered the 2001 NBA Draft out of the University of Arizona, Gilbert did not seem much of a prospect. In High School, he was told he would never make it, so he took that on as a challenge and took the jersey number zero. Teams in the first round passed on Arenas because he lacked the size needed at the shooting guard position in the NBA and lacked the awareness and ball handling skills of a point guard.[citation needed] His dream was to be drafted by Celtics who had two picks in the first round and they had shown interest in him but they passed. With no position solidified and a shaky prospect at best, he went the entire first round without being drafted. The Golden State Warriors finally drafted him with the second pick in the second round (31st overall). Although the Warriors did not enjoy much team success during Arenas' tenure with them, he quickly established himself as one of the league's bright young talents. In 2003, his second year in the league, Arenas received the NBA Most Improved Player Award and was named Most Valuable Player of the Rookie-Sophomore game during the NBA All-Star Weekend. After that season, he was one of the most sought-after free agents of the NBA. He signed with the Washington Wizards, reportedly after flipping a coin to decide among several teams, including the Wizards, Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers. Arenas had a disappointing first season with the Wizards, battling a strained abdominal muscle injury all season. However, Arenas 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 1997. 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 2.24 (Hughes led the league with 2.93 steals per game).