Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, Earl Monroe, Gus Johnson, Phil Chenier, Gilbert Arenas. Arenas’ name is currently not on display in Capital One Arena, but it should be.
The Washington Wizards are putting a reunion of their old big three together, of sorts. Caron Butler will be commentating a select number of Wizards games next season for NBC Sports Washington. Antawn Jamison was recently hired by the Wizards for a front office role, serving as the director of pro personnel. Gilbert Arenas, however, the highest rated member of the Wizard’s old big three, has not been associated with the team since he was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2010.
Arenas, also known as “Agent Zero,” was the former face of the Wizards franchise. Arenas was a second round pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, selected by the Golden State Warriors. He chose the number zero to represent how many minutes experts predicted he would play in the NBA. Arenas quickly took the league by storm, winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in his sophomore year. In the summer of 2003, he signed a six year, $60 million contract with the Wizards.
Over the next four seasons, Arenas quickly developed into one of the leagues best players. From 2003-2007, he averaged over 26 points per game and made the All-Star game three times. He was also added to the All-NBA second team in 2007 and All-NBA Third Team in 2005 and 2006.
Arenas was a scoring machine. He could put up 50 points in any given night. He even put up 60 when he was up against Kobe Bryant.
Arenas would lead the Wizards to four straight playoff appearances from 2005-2008. In the 2005 playoffs, his buzzer beater in Game five against the Chicago Bulls helped the Wizards win their first playoff series in over two decades.
The one knock against Arenas is his off the court issues, specifically the gun incident. In 2009, Arenas brought multiple unloaded firearms into the Wizard’s locker room during an argument over gambling debts with teammate Javaris Crittenton. Shortly after the event, in the pregame introductions in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Arenas pretended to shoot his teammates with finger guns. For his terrible behavior, Arenas was suspended indefinitely by the league. He was also charged with carrying a pistol without a license.
After this incident, the Wizards distanced themselves from Arenas, trading him away right when he returned to the court. Arenas stated in an interview with Bullets Forever that the last time he was in Capital One Arena was in February, 2011 when the Magic were playing the Wizards.
This is quite sad as Agent Zero is a favorite for every single Wizards fan, even after the gun incident. He is also still well respected around the league for his greatness. The number zero has not been worn by a Wizard’s player since his departure. Newly acquired Wizards player, C.J. Miles, stated on Twitted that he switched his number from 0 to 34 to respect Arenas.
Not at all I went back to 34 for this very reason .. this is an edit https://t.co/Jfjgy6eJer
— C.J. Miles (@masfresco) July 7, 2019
Arenas is a Wizards legend. Washington was lucky to have a player of his talents. He brought Washington basketball back to life and made people in the District proud to be a Wizards fan for the first time in years. Gilbert Arenas will always have a place in Wizards history and Wizards fan’s hearts which is why he should have his number retired by the team.