The Washington Wizards had their share of miserable, underachieving seasons throughout the years. For a franchise that hasn’t won more than 50 games in 44 years, the disappointing seasons are easier to come by than successful ones. However, there are a few eras that brought joy to the Wizards fans in recent memory. One of those is the Gilbert Arenas era. The Wizards fans still remember those days fondly despite never achieving tremendous success.
Gilbert Arenas signed as a free agent with the Washington Wizards in the summer of 2003. He played in 552 games with the team over 8 seasons. The span between 2005 and 2008 was the last time the Washington Wizards made the playoffs four seasons in a row.
Between Arenas’ spectacular clutch performances and a new Eastern Conference rivalry with Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who beat the Wizards in three straight playoffs, the Washington Wizards were one of the most fun teams to watch in the league.
However, even in an era full of excitement and hope, the Washington Wizards had some underwhelming players who started for them. It’s time to take a trip down memory lane and look at some of the worst starters of the Gilbert Arenas era.
It’s important to establish criteria for this exercise. Players who were spot-starters for a game or two at the end of the season don’t qualify as “starters.” The threshold to qualify is 20 games started.
The year span we are looking at is between 2003 when Arenas was acquired and the end of the 2009-2010 campaign; Arenas’ last full season in Washington. Any player who started for at least 20 games in that time period is a candidate for this list.
Certain players may have had successful careers before joining the Wizards or after leaving Washington. We are only taking into account their resume with the Wizards. How well they performed and how much (or little in these cases) they contributed to winning in a Wizards uniform is the determinant factor.