"We were this close": Gilbert Arenas missed a golden opportunity to team-up with Dwyane Wade in 2003
Gilbert Arenas and Dwyane Wade were two of the players that headlined the action in the NBA during the 2000s.
Agent Zero and the Flash were two of the best players in the league back in the time and faced each other multiple times as opponents. Arenas was the leader of the Washington Wizards, while Wade led the way for the Miami Heat.
A few days ago, Wade was inducted into the Hall of Fame and Arenas honored him via his podcast, "Gil's Arena."
The former Wizards star also revealed that he was close to signing with Miami and becoming teammates with Wade back in 2003, when the latter got drafted by the Heat. Gilbert Arenas was a free agent and had talks with Miami but the two sides never reached a deal, and Gilbert Arenas ended up in Washington.
"We were this close to being teammates. So my free agent year was the year he got drafted. So Miami was, you know, coming after me and Cuban ties, right, they were like, okay, we want to play them at the point so you guys can have this 1.2 type of like if you can guard the point, he can guard the two, he can bring about. So we have this great combo that we can do, right? You have your Cuban ties, so you’re coming back home, this is a great story," Gilbert Arenas said on his podcast
Gilbert Arenas explains why he joined the Wizards and not the Heat back in 2003
The former NBA player wanted a lucrative deal from Miami, which president Pat Riley was never willing to offer him.
Thus, he accepted the Wizards' offer, who were inclined to offer him a lot of money to convince him to join the team and become the face of the franchise in the post-Michael Jordan era. Arenas added that he never regretted this decision:
"Lamar Odom is waiting for me because he is the number one free agent, I’m number two, and under us was Andre Miller, and he already set the tone at 51….When I picked up Washington, he (Odom) took that money in Miami, where he was coming from the Clippers. I got to establish who I really was as a player in Washington, that was the point. They didn’t have a superstar, they were ready for a star, and you know I was going to be handed the keys," Gilbert Arenas said.
Gilbert Arenas spent seven years with the Wizards (2003-2010) and led Washington to the postseason four times. He became a three-time All-Star during his time there (2005-2007), while making the All-NBA Team three times (2005-2007). However, he never won the title in the league.
For his part, Dwyane Wade had an illustrious career, which was highlighted by his Hall of Fame induction a few days ago.
Wade has been a three-time NBA champion (2006, 2012, 2013), Finals MVP in 2006, 13-time All-Star and 2009 NBA scoring champion, while he made the All-NBA Team eight times. He also became part of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, while the Heat have retired his No.3 jersey.