From game-winning shots to headline-grabbing scandals, Gilbert Arenas lived in a Shakespearean tragedy draped in NBA jerseys. We’re all aware of Gilbert Arenas’ electric on-court brilliance. The 20.7 points per game, the 5.3 assists, the three All-Star nods, and that unforgettable Most Improved Player run in 2003. A walking highlight reel with a killer crossover and clutch gene, he lit up scoreboards for 11 seasons. Yet just as unforgettable were the controversies that shadowed him off the hardwood: the 2009 locker room gun incident that derailed careers, the legal fallout, and Crittenton’s tragic downward spiral. Then came the 2024 firestorm over xenophobic remarks, another stain on a legacy already tangled in drama.
Yet few remember the heartbreaking twist of fate that nearly derailed his career before it even began, when he felt “Cheated”. A draft night snub that fueled his rise from overlooked prospect to NBA stardom. Gilbert Arenas expected to hear his name called early in the draft. The league passed on him. His college teammate Richard Jefferson went in the first round instead. Leaving Arenas to be the 31st overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2001 NBA Draft. Reportedly, Arenas fell to the second round due to concerns about his maturity and pre-draft interviews.
Gilbert Arenas recently revealed how it felt to sit through the draft, watching teams pick inferior players ahead of him. In the Netflix documentary, Gilbert Arenas shared, “So you start hearing names come off the board.” Implying the tense vibe he felt when one announcement after another did not carry his name. Gilbert Arenas still remembers when the news hit him, the shock that learning teams would take Jefferson instead. “I remember my college teammate Richard Jefferson hitting me. He was like, “Hey man, good luck in the draft. I think I’m about to get called soon.” Naturally, he was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, “You’re gonna be called before me? The third or fourth-best player on our team. Get the f*** out of here. Are you crazy? You’re crazy, man.”
This was indeed tragic for Gilbert Arenas. But what followed next for him hit him like a blessing in disguise. Reportedly, he was the best player on the Warriors squad back then. That snub ultimately secured him a far more lucrative contract than most players drafted ahead of him. A jaw-hurting, funny conversation took place between Gil and Jeff about it recently on Podcenral. Jefferson shared, “I’m in my third year, and Gilbert’s like Yo Rich, how’s it going over there, you playing well. What? you making 1.8, I’m making 11 million this year. This is what he’s saying to me during warmups.” It showed that Arenas was definitely not disappointed rolling down to the second round with a $9.2 million difference.
Jeff continued by adding, “Yeah, in the second round, Rich, I’m making 11 million for the next 6 years. Have fun with it wait oh you got another contract coming next year too Oh man, that sucks.” While he seemed happy for his fellow 20-year-old baller’s earnings being sky high, Jeff couldn’t hide his misery behind the smile for long. After all, losing this money would hurt, even if you’re picked first.
Gilbert Arenas shares emotional account of son’s recovery
Gilbert Arenas’ voice still carried raw emotion as he recounted the morning his world nearly shattered on The Dan Patrick Show. “Usually I wake up at 4:30 and I go through the Tesla app to see if he’s heading home or at the gym,” the former NBA star explained. “His car is at the gym, so I continue my workout, then my daughter said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m working out.’ She dropped the bomb: ‘You haven’t heard? Your son just got in an accident.”
Arenas’ blood ran cold. “‘At the gym?’ ‘No, he’s at the hospital.’” What followed was every parent’s nightmare. The Tesla app had malfunctioned. Alijah’s Cybertruck wasn’t safely parked. It had plowed into a fire hydrant and tree in LA’s San Fernando Valley, trapping the 18-year-old USC commit inside for 10-12 minutes as smoke flooded the cabin. “I just stopped everything and ran over there,” Arenas said, his relief palpable even weeks later. “My thing was making sure there were no broken limbs, no burns.”
Miraculously, Alijah avoided catastrophic injuries, saved by strangers Arenas called “angels”. Bystanders who heard the 5:30 AM crash pulled him from the wreck. But the aftermath was grueling: doctors induced a coma to purge his smoke-ravaged lungs. When Alijah briefly woke, his dark humor survived intact. “Tell [USC coach Eric Musselman] I’m sorry I’m at UCLA,” he joked from his rival’s hospital.
Now recovering at home, the five-star recruit’s basketball future remains bright. But for Arenas, the trauma lingers. The app glitch, the smoke, the what-ifs, all eclipsed by gratitude for those anonymous rescuers who gave his son a second chance.
The post Despite Feeling ‘Cheated’ by NBA, Gilbert Arenas’ Held $9.2 Million Edge Over College Teammate appeared first on EssentiallySports.