"I don't think I would have become who I was destined to be as a player" - Gilbert Arenas shares an incident in free agency, says the LA Clippers' lack of facilities made him choose Washington Wizards
Gilbert Arenas was one of the best young players to hit the market following the 2002-2003 NBA season. While he was a restricted free agent, the Golden State Warriors were over the salary cap and unable to match offers. His options would come down to the Washington Wizards and LA Clippers. Arenas recently detailed the thought process that led to him signing with the Wizards.
7/21/2003 - Gilbert Arenas signs a 6 year $65 million offer sheet with the Wizards. The Warriors are unable to match the offer. https://t.co/qgulkyUUIz
During a recent appearance on VladTV, Gilbert Arenas shared that he flipped a coin to decide between the Wizards and Clippers. Despite the coin toss favoring the Clippers, Arenas opted to go the opposite direction:
"Okay, so when I went to the Wizards, I never had a migraine ever in my life before. Going there, I was like 'God, give me a sign if you don't want me to come here'. Migraine. All lights started hurting me. Like, I didn't know what the hell that was...So I was like, alright, let me flip a coin, it's Clippers or Wizards. It landed on the Clippers.
out of the 10 times - landed on the Clippers like 7 or 8, right? And I'm like go against the grain. Migraine means don't go here, the coin says don't go here, go there. So I go against the grain. Okay, so whatever the sign said, I went the other way in hindsight."
When asked what he thought would happen if he chose to sign with the Clippers, Arenas said:
"I don't think I would have became who I was destined to be as a player, no. No matter if I got hurt or not. My trajectory as a player, I don't think because the Clippers didn't have the atmosphere for success. They didn't have their own practice gym, they don't have their own arena, right? So that is very important to someone who's trying to get better in life.
When I can't sleep, 11:00, 2:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning, I go to the gym... I'll drive to the gym, even if I get four or five shots up before I get tired... They didn't have that with the Clippers.
We play tomorrow and I'm gonna go in and get shots up, the f**king Laker game is on. I can't go in that arena. You know what I mean? So it was all these blockages from just being great. So when you look at the Clippers greatness back then there was no way they were gonna be great."
Gilbert Arenas should have no regrets over his decision to pick the Washington Wizards over the LA Clippers. While he had doubts his game would develop with the Clippers, it blossomed in Washington. He was a rising talent full of potential when he joined the Wizards. He quickly became one of the best scorers in the NBA.
Watch Gilbert Arenas' full appearance on VladTV below:
Gilbert Arenas recently detailed suspension
During the 2009-2010 season, Gilbert Arenas was involved in a major controversy. News broke about an incident involving him and teammate Javaris Crittenton. The players were alleged to have drawn firearms on one another after an argument in the Wizards' locker room.
Arenas recently detailed how his conversation with former NBA commissioner David Stern led to his lengthy suspension. He was warned that he would lose his NBA contract if he tried to fight the suspension. With nearly $100 million left on his contract, Arenas realized it wasn't worth taking the risk and accepted his punishment.
“If you fight me on this, I will take your NBA contract.”
Gilbert Arenas spoke to @ryenarussillo about his meeting with David Stern that ultimately led to his suspension in 2010 for bringing guns into the team locker room. https://t.co/kd0WFJcqO8